Pacifier
by Mazula
Summary: Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hali, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure? T for language.
1. Pacified

**Pacifier**

_Ch. 1 _

_Pacified._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

X~X~X~X~X~X

He was late.

If there was one thing Turaga Nuju hated (among other things) in this world, it was tardiness. Especially from his translator of all people.

Call it a pet peeve, he was known to be impatient in certain aspects, and his icy mood did nothing to help that reputation. Even so, lateness from his own assistant was unacceptable.

Sure, he could let a few late minutes slide with a light scolding. Just a few minutes off work time But the Matoran was expected to not do it again. Now this time for instance…

It's one thing to be a few minutes late. It's another when you're _one hour _late.

Usually Nuju wouldn't even dream of waiting that long for someone to show up. He supposed he was procrastinating the meeting as well, he could admit to that at least. Now, however, procrastination over, the time reading close to noon, he was getting very impatient.

Well, he thought, he wasn't going to get anywhere just sitting there. And it wasn't like Matoro would hit himself over the head in his Turaga's place for this.

And so he found himself heading for his assistants' home, grumbling to himself. Great, he had just gotten his staff fixed and tuned up, and now he had to ruin it by using it as an 'idiot stick'. Again. (1)

That brat better be either bleeding out on his floor or tied up somewhere. Because if that wasn't the excuse, he was going to get it…

"_Matoro! Open up! I know you're in there." _He snapped, banging on the door to his translator's home.

No answer. Which was slightly surprising to Nuju. In trouble or not, Matoro was loyal enough to get up and face the music in any given situation he was involved in, even if it meant getting his head slugged off his shoulders.

"_Matoro, I mean it, if you don't get out here right now, I swear, I'm going to-"_

_Fwump!_

…'fwump'? What just went 'fwump'?

And…why was it coming from inside Matoro's home? Did he maybe drop something?

A sudden few thoughts occurred to Nuju in that moment.

Matoro was late. He wasn't answering his door. Matoro was almost _never _late for anything. More so, he almost always answers his door, especially if Nuju sounded royally pissed off. These facts were not adding up. And of course, Nuju's overprotective-worry kicks in and decides to fill his head with a few pleasant thoughts. (2)

Was Matoro maybe hurt? Did he maybe get sick? Was he lying passed out somewhere in his hut and maybe dying!? Did someone maybe sneak in and hurt him!? Was he actually bleeding out or tied up somewhere!? And what was that noise!? (3)

…what the hell was he doing wondering if any of those things were possible? He needed to get in there!

"_Matoro?" _he grabbed the doorknob, even though his mind was automatically telling him it was-

…not locked?

That's odd, he thought. Matoro always kept his door locked, whether he was home or not. He couldn't risk having someone walking in on him if he was working on something relating to Metru-nui, all of which was still being kept under-wraps from the island.

Which only seemed to further Nuju's concern for his assistant.

_Clank!_

More noise. Instinct was heightening and caution was on high.

Gripping his staff firmly, Nuju carefully entered the darkened hut with quiet steps and looked around.

Nothing seemed out of place or damaged. The living room was intact without so much as a book or knick-knack out of place. The kitchen was also untouched, and the small hallway that led to the sleeping and bathing rooms was also fine. The only real worrisome quality to the hut was that the coffee maker was left on and no doubt cold.

Nuju picked up the pot, feeling its temperature. Stone cold. That in itself was very worrisome. If Matoro didn't get his usual caffeine in the mornings, all Karzahni will ensure on anyone within a five mile radius. Much to his dismay, the kid had a problem that he was unwilling to acknowledge… (4)

The living area and kitchen cleared, all that left was the bathroom and Matoro's bedroom.

_Clank!_

There it was again. Much closer now, and clearly coming from Matoro's bedroom. Cautiously, Nuju moved past the living room and kitchen and towards the bedroom door. He paused in front of it and pressed his ear to it to listen.

No noise was heard after a moment. But after a while, there was a sound of shuffling, and an almost Rahi-like whine. This severely confused Nuju. Did a Rahi maybe get into Matoro's home? Did it maybe hurt him? Well, knowing that boy, Nuju would not be the least bit surprised if he brought home a Muaka cub. The scenario of Matoro bringing a Rahi home and said Rahi causing his tardiness was starting to look rather plausible…(5)

'_I'm not going to find out by standing here…' _he thought.

ExHahling a deep breath, staff gripped into a defensive hold, Nuju grabbed the doorknob and swung it open, staff at the ready to defend himself, and his mind _hopefully _prepared to see Matoro in possibly bad condition.

…nothing.

Not a thing. No Rahi and no Matoro. Simply just a neat, tidy room that was completely untouched.

Well…sort of.

The bed was a mess, as if someone had just recently gotten out of it, one side of the thick blankets hanging halfway off the other side of the bed. Pillows were strewn in a couple places, and a book Nuju suspected Matoro had been reading the night before was flopped onto the floor completely open, its penguin bookmark lying off a few feet from it.

This was a bit confusing to Nuju. The windows were closed and locked, so no one could have snuck in from there. The front door, although unlocked, didn't look as if it was forced open in the slightest. Nothing significant seemed to be missing…

_Clank!_

'_What the…?' _Nuju turned his attention to a rather cliché part of the room. The closet. Of course…

'_Why am I not surprised?' _he thought tersely.

Again, another, almost shrill and Rahi-like, sound emitted from the closet. Followed by something that sounded like a laugh. Nuju frowned as he approached the closet.

'_I swear to you Matoro, if this is some kind of joke…' _finally tired of the charade, Nuju grabbed the handle and threw it open, expecting to find either an obnoxious Le-Matoran or his assistant looking for a kick.

He wasn't, however, expecting _that_.

He blinked, eyes wide, and mind as blank as a sheet of new paper. He could only _stare_ with his mouth agape.

"_Uh…wha…?" _Intelligent as his lame statement was, it was all he could seem to manage at the moment.

The toddler just looked up at Nuju with its overly large blue eyes and cocked its head to one side curiously, semi long blue-white hair shifting slightly from the head-tilt.

The staring contest lasted for a good few minutes, and the shock even longer. Although somewhere in the confines of Nuju's mind, he managed to take note of the child's appearance.

Very small in size, maybe a little over two feet tall if he(?) stood up. It was hard to tell, as the child itself was clad in nothing but an overly large light blue sweater that was disturbingly familiar to Nuju. Obviously a Ko-Matoran if the hair and eye color was anything to go by, and playing with what appeared to be one of Matoro's throwing disks. That explained the clanging noises.

But there was something so damn familiar about this child. Nuju just knew that he'd seen this toddler somewhere before. It was such a nagging sensation.

He broke out of his confused contemplating when the child cooed and reached up to him with its tiny arms, as if wanting to be picked up.

Nuju flinched back and felt the unsightly urge to press back into a wall. Against popular belief among the island, Ko-Matoran didn't hate or eat children, Nuju included. He couldn't say he loved them, but he didn't hate or dislike them. He just didn't really have any clue as to how to _react_ to a child. A lack of paternal instincts is what he came up with. And honestly, a lot of Ko-Matoran loved kids. They were small pieces of the future, so of course they would have a liking for kids. (6)

But this…this was odd. Nuju only now just seemed to realize where he was, who was missing, and just what he was looking at.

So this raised a few questions.

Where the _hell _was Matoro, _why _did he have a _child _in his _closet_, and _why_, oh _WHY _was this child so damn familiar!?

Seeing that he (Nuju was guessing the child was male) wasn't being picked up, the child pouted at Nuju.

Something in Nuju's head clicked, and it clicked _hard_.

That pout…no one could pull off that face with that kind of expression and ignite such…_odd _feelings within Nuju. No, only one Matoran was able to make that face and forcibly fill his head with disgustingly mushy thoughts…

And as ridiculous as it may sound, he had to know…

"Ma…Matoro?" he asked out rather pathetically, seemingly forgetting that he was a strict bird-speaker.

The toddler gave a full watt smile and clapped his tiny hands.

"Papa!"

The blood drained from Nuju's face. He felt like he was going to pass out in front of the happily giggling toddler.

Dear sweet Mata-nui above, what the hell was he smoking?

Riiiing~!

"AH!" Jumping slightly from the noise, and causing the child to flinch, Nuju blinked and looked around for the source of the noise.

Oh. Right. Matoro's nightstand.

Rather numbly, Nuju reached over, still white as a sheet, and picked up a cellphone-like communication devise given to him and the other Turaga by Dume for convenience. And with Matoro acting as his assistant, and Nuju himself refusing to speak normally, the phone was kept with the Matoran to alert Nuju of any upcoming meetings or situations. (7)

Nuju flipped it open and put it to his ear.

"Yes…?" he strained out, again forgetting that he was actually speaking. The situation was too overwhelming.

"_Nuju! You are NOT going to believe this!" _he heard Vakama say on the other end of the line. Nuju slowly looked back at the toddler that was supposedly Matoro.

"Try me…" he said.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

…_what? You expect something normal from me? Come on! You all just KNOW you've been waiting for someone to do a Bionicle themed 'Pacifier' fic! Don't you dare deny it!_

…_so yeah. You get a side fic to go along with my Falling Black fic. This is more or less a method to get a few kicks and relax. Shut up._

_More to come soon!_

_REVIEW PLZ!_

_1-) Last time Nuju used it to hit Matau over the head for attempting to lick a pole in Ko-koro. XD_

_2-) God, Nuju is so fricken cute when he's all panicky and worried LOL_

_3-) For god's sake Nuju, calm down! BREATHE! D8_

_4-) Step one is admitting you have a problem, Matoro. _

_5-) Let the record show that Matoro is in fact a Rahi lover, as it is stated such in many, if not all, Bionicle wikis._

_6-) It honestly makes sense, to me anyways. It's not stated anywhere that Ko people like or dislike kids (as kids do not exist in the canon Bionicle universe), we just assume due to their icy attitude. But all things considered, their aesthetics often amount to their likes and dislikes, ergo children in this situation._

_7-) I have NO idea if this kind of technology would be available on Mata-nui. Metru-nui, yes, but since they went back to basics on the surface, I can't be too certain on their technological status. But I do see Dume giving them some form of tech to communicate. It would make sense, not everything can be explained via messenger bird XD (I'm pretty sure this method is used in the Bionicle world)_


	2. Baby boom!

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 2_

_Baby Boom!_

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_**A/N~ **__Holy crap, three reviews in less than 24 hours? That's more than I make in a week! Eh? Eh? ? ? 8D_

…_no, but seriously, thank you all so much!_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

_Also I want to give a shout out to a wonderful reviewer __**InTheLight-Hija**__! You've been a great support in continuing my Falling Black fic, and a kind reviewer! I always enjoy reading them and letting my own ego inflate. XDD I'm kidding, but seriously, you're awesome. Much love~_

_On with the fic!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

Bad, bad, bad, terrible, awful, slecht, mauvais, schlecht, difettoso, mau, malo, SHIT! (1)

…and a few other choice words he did not want to say in front of the child at the moment. He could scream and swear up a storm _after _he got to the others.

"Mrph!"

If only the little bugger would hold still and quit moving around!

Whenua, being a man of many things, was never much a man of last minute planning. Nor was he much of a quick thinker in precarious situations. Case in point, the little toddler wriggling around in his tightly folded jacket in which he held and hid him in as he practically sprinted through his underground koro and to the Kini.

Although, even though this was a rather…well…odd situation, he was somewhat thankful he wasn't the only one who found an infant in their vicinity.

Not even a half hour ago, Nokama and Matau rang him up, the latter of the two in near hysterics with the sound of a shrieking toddler in the background. Nokama was relatively calm, if not very confused and a bit dazed to find a little girl in her Matoran's home about to go swimming in said Matoran's fish tank. (2)

Onewa also called after them, confirming their suspicion that they were, in fact, not the only ones. Onewa, Nuju, and Vakama all got the surprise of their lives in their right hand Matoran's homes in the form of bouncing baby Matoran.

Really, Whenua was starting to consider if maybe some of his miners hit some kind of a gas pocket when he found what was to suppose to be Nuparu in his work space, chewing on a pickaxe of all things. A _pickaxe!_

And here he thought being a Turaga was all about leaving all those insane, hectic, one step closer to a padded room with a straight jacket, life that was that of a Toa's behind! That was all supposed to be on the Mata's sanity now! But _no_, life just had to be a bitch and give him and the others this…this…_thing!_

'_Mata-nui above, what did I ever do to deserve this?' _he thought just as he entered the Kini.

Well, he thought it was the Kini. It was actually more like a hectic nursery in the woods…

By the colors and obvious personalities, Whenua was able to make good guesses as to who was who, even as toddlers all clad in nothing but either a blanket or oversized clothing.

Hewkii was throwing rocks at anything that moved, namely Onewa, and covered in mud. When the brown Turaga tried to grab and restrain him, the quick little bugger would run off like a little jack rabbit.

Kongu was, quite literally, running around in circles and screaming like a maniac. Whenua was wondering if he was having some kind of psychotic episode… (3)

Jaller was behaving somewhat better…kind of. Vakama had the misfortune of trying to get the little redhead to let go of one of poor little Hahli's pigtails. (4)

Hahli was obviously crying from the painful treatment of her hair.

Matoro, however, looked more or less petrified of all the noise and action, choosing to hide himself in Nuju's arms, tucked in his jacket and clutching his chest. Nuju actually looked sorry for him, but annoyed with the other toddlers and Turaga.

Well, Whenua thought, just pretend this is nothing but a bad-

"Pwitty!" Nuparu squeaked, pointing at Matoro.

-dream. Ugh…

And promptly the little black-haired hellion wriggled out of his arms and joined the others in raising all Karzahni, circling an annoyed and overly protective Nuju's feet to try and reach the obviously frightened Matoro. Oh joy…

"So…" he started, eye twitching as a tiny pebble collided with his cheek, followed by a irate Onewa chasing after the thrower of said rock, "Will someone _please _explain to me just what the _hell_-!"

"Language, Whenua!" Nokama scolded. She finally managed to rescue Hahli from Jaller's assault and was holding the whimpering little Ga-Matoran up in her arms.

"Are you kidding me!? They're our Matoran! Not children!" Whenua snapped.

"Obviously, Whenua. But it stands that even so, they are infants in both body and mind." Vakama interjected, trying to restrain the wriggling Jaller.

"Whatever! I want to know what the meaning of this is!" Whenua snapped, causing poor little Matoro to jump and bury himself further into Nuju's coat. Said ice Turaga sighed irritably.

"We don't know, you imbecile. That is why we are going to Dume for help!" Whenua was staring at him funny, "…what?"

"You're talking." Whenua said bluntly. (5)

"Oh, well, excuse me for being a bit overwhelmed here by the fact I find my _translator _in this infantile state!" Nuju snapped.

"And the fact that every time he bird speak-talks, Kongu calls him a-"

"Birdie!" Kongu chirped, pointing at Nuju and giggling. (6)

"-that." Matau finished with a half smirk. He almost looked proud of the little blond monster…

Whenua rubbed his temples and sighed, shaking his head. This was not happening. This could _not _be happening…

"Have any other Matoran besides these six been…well…transformed?" he asked.

"Not so far. I checked in with all my other Matoran before I left to be sure." Nokama said.

"Same with the rest of us. Only these six were found like…um…this." Vakama said uncertainly.

"Well then, what do we do?" Onewa asked tiredly, having now managed to catch Hewkii in his unbreakable hold.

"Now, I think we should go see Dume." Vakama said.

"What could he possibly do?" Whenua asked with a raised brow.

"I don't know! But it's better than sitting around and doing nothing!"

"Fire-spitter is right. And besides, I can't have my bachelorhood be ruined by a mini-Kongu! He's already a mess-handful as a teen!" Matau said. Kongu emphasized his words by throwing a stick at his head and giggling.

"And if he can't help…?" Nuju asked carefully.

"Then we are going to be in some serious crap…" Onewa said.

"Cwap!" Kongu cheered. Nokama gave Onewa a hard glare. (7)

"Let's just…get going before someone finds us…" Vakama said tiredly.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Dume was a man of many things and aspects. He was hard but firm, with a solid attitude and a fiery personality. He could be as calm and docile as a dormant volcano covered in green and life. However, if the situation calls for it, or an idiot raises it, he can go off like an apocalyptic eruption. Nothing would be safe from his wrath and fury.

He was also very well known for his very well trained and impressively controlled emotions. A surprising trait to find in a Ta-Turaga, and something you'd expect in a Ko-Matoran or Turaga. He can seem and act as if he was prepared for anything and everything…

Well…almost everything. This, however, he wasn't exactly prepared for…

Really, was his first thought. He could handle slaving away in the smelting pits of a mask workshop. He could handle jumping into life or death situations, no matter how dangerous or stupid they seemed. He can handle (somewhat) being impersonated by Makuta and waking up to his city in shambles…(8)

Okay, that wasn't really true, that was quite a blow to both his ego and his self-preservation, but still.

This however…this was _madness_.

When they all walked in, Dume was expecting them to explain they needed to, say, have an emergency meeting or something of the like. Maybe it was for recreational reasons; Matau still owed him quite a few widgets from their last poker game, leaving him with a cheeky grin and an I-O-U on a slip of paper before bolting out the door.

All that he could take and would have expected. This, he was not expecting.

"What…?" was all he seemed to ask. It was pretty much all he could come up with anyways. Vakama looked at him meekly.

"We…were hoping you could tell us." He said. Dume blinked and looked at the little redhead staring up at him by Vakama's feet, said Turaga having a good grip on the little one's hand.

"…I believe I'm looking at children." Dume said.

"We know that. We were hoping you could tell us just _how _they got here!" Onewa snapped. Dume gave him an unimpressed look.

"Well you see Onewa, when two Matoran love each other _very _much, they-" (9)

"Dume!" they all snapped.

"What?"

"We're being serious here!" Whenua snapped.

"So am I. And honestly, I fail to see just what possessed you all to bring children here." Dume said, as if speaking to a madman. Were they finally cracking under the pressure of being a Turaga, he thought.

"These are not just any children Dume, these were once our right hand Matoran!" Nuju snapped. Dume blinked at him with a curious look.

"Are you talking again?" he asked, surprised. Nuju swore he felt something snap in his head.

Gritting his teeth, he hissed out, "Forgive me for being a bit shorthanded here, as it seems my assistant has been turned into _this!_"

So saying, he presented the startled little blue eyed toddler to Dume at arm's length, dangling by his tiny underarms in an oversized light blue sweater. He whimpered and looked at Dume with intimidation.

Dume stared at the little one and the others waited with bated breath. Matoro was pretty much the only Matoran on the entire island that even knew of Metru-nui and Dume, and they had met plenty enough times to become familiar with each other. Possibly the only Matoran Dume has come into contact with since the city fell, it should go without saying there should be a bit of a connection with the two.

And if Dume didn't believe the child was Matoro, well…they tried not to think about it.

Taking the child from Nuju, though keeping him at a slight arm's length bent at the elbows, they both had a bit of a staring contest.

A few moments passed, and in a meek, tiny voice, Matoro said, "Hewwo?"

That. That seemed to spark a certain memory in Dume's head.

The first time he met Matoro for his initiation and swearing in. (10) Trying to stand tall and proud by his Turaga, the shy Matoran was anything but confident. Such shy eyes and intimidated expression apparent, when first faced with Dume (after reassuring Nuju that his Matoran was not going to be eaten and to stop acting like an overbearing parent seeing their child off to their first day of school), all he could offer was a meek, "Hello?" to him.

That small moment in time seemed to perfectly match this one now, as unorthodox as that sounds. But one thing was certain and seemed to click in Dume's head. This child was, in fact, Matoro.

And that meant that the others…

Dume blanched slightly.

"Spirits above, is there a gas leak in here, or is it just me?" he rasped, staring wide eyed at the little white bundle he still held at arm's length.

"We almost wish…" Onewa muttered.

Right about then, Kongu decided that this situation was too boring for him, and decided to up the ante a bit.

"Wind-fwy!" he cried.

Then promptly jumped out of Matau's arms and tackled Jaller to the ground. Jaller's startled cry emitted, and it seemed to be the go ahead signal for everyone else to resume their antics from back in the Kini.

Dume just watched the chaos unfold as the others promptly joined the other two in their wrestling match, sans Matoro and Hahli, who both chose to either hide or cling to their respective Turaga.

He didn't even blink, even as a paper wad was thrown at his head, and sighed.

This…was going to be a long, long day…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_~ And we return with more bouts of cuteness and silliness! Enjoy!_

_1)- you just experienced a various selection on how to say 'bad' in numerous languages. (order- Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, good old fashion white trash English.) Am I getting through to anyone yet? XDD_

_2)- Hahli in a fish tank. It's cute. XD_

_3)- You all cannot deny this is a very imaginable mental image._

_4)- Boys. Can't express liking a girl without making her cry. At least not until they reach puberty and start flirting with the thing in their pants._

_5)- Breaking news! Understatement of the century has been inquired! 8DD_

_6)- If you don't get why Kongu calls Nuju 'birdie', I feel very sorry for you right now..._

_7)- Never swear in front of impressionable children. XD_

_8)- Somewhat of a step-by-step verse of his life from Matoran, to Toa, to Turaga, to overthrown Turaga. XD_

_9)- See kids? You just go a very small glimpse into the world of the birds and the bees~ 8D_

_10)- I imagine Matoro didn't just get his job overnight with no real background or personal check. I can imagine him going through possibly an initiation or taking an oath, maybe both._

_REVIEW PLEASE!_


	3. Problems

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 3_

_Problems._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_**A/N~ **__Geez, probably the most reviews I've gotten in a fic in under a week! Damn, I'm on FIYA!...HOMG! FIRE! D8 *runs around in circles screaming with Kongu*_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

_On with the kawaii-ness!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Kongu! Get down from there this instant!"

"Nyah!"

In any other situation, the predicament they were watching would be hilarious. No really, it would be _hilarious._ And it was getting very hard to not start cracking up right now. The humor would be a very welcome form of stress relief about now. But the seriousness of the actual problem here was overpowering the urge to laugh.

Well…it didn't stop the other little ones from laughing anyways. And at least they weren't running around and _climbing ten foot bookshelves._

The mentioned little hellion somehow, Mata-nui only knows how, managed to climb up a bookshelf in Dume's office and was making himself very well known by either blowing raspberries at them or throwing books at them.

Matau was trying in vain to get him down…

"…you know, he could just ask you to get him down." Vakama said to Nuju. The ice Turaga shrugged.

"He could. But that would be, you know, smart." He smirked. (1)

"Kongu! I mean it! If you don't come down here this now-instant, I'm gonna-"

And the blanket Kongu had been tightly wrapped in was thrown at his face, the now little nude infant climbing down and rushing off down the hallway, laughing the whole way. (2) Nokama barely had enough time to cover a very confused Hahli's eyes.

"…well that was different." Dume stated in a bored manner, despite their situation.

"Different my ass!" Onewa snapped. (3)

"Wass!" was heard slightly muffled from down the hallway where Kongu vanished. Matau growled irritably.

"Get back here you little nudist!" And he promptly chased after him.

Lots of giggling, crashing, and a few curses, followed by childish imitations of said curses, were heard from down the hallway.

The others didn't even bother trying to see if anyone was getting hurt. Knowing those two, even one of them in child form, they weren't going to be quitting without a fight…

"So…" Vakama started, "What do we do?"

Not even a second after he asks this, Nuparu inevitably discovered an old Disk Launcher on a small tool desk in the corner. The trigger to it looked so shiny and clickable. And he would just love to get his little paws on it. And so the little inventor decided to go against all thought and pull the trigger.

A few things happened in a split second.

The disk had obviously launched, and Whenua wasn't quick enough to snatch the little bugger away from the weapon in time. Now airborne, the disk was now ricocheting all over the room, causing both a mess and a slight panic.

Things obviously were getting broken, all the way from useless junk to ancient items consisting of relics and a few antique masks and trinkets. Dume would later throw a tantrum about those.

Second problem here, the kids were in hysterics. Crying, screaming, or wailing, whether in fright or excitement was unknown.

As for the Turaga themselves, they were ready to join them in their screaming as they barely managed to avoid getting their limbs or heads blasted off, all the while juggling the kids around to keep them from getting hurt.

Now either pinned to the floor or hiding behind something with a crying, wailing child, they seemed at a loss. At least until all the noise suddenly stopped after a rather loud crash of a window.

Vakama, hiding behind a table, peeked over the top of it, and sighed. Well, the window that was supposed to be situated behind Dume's desk was in shambles. And if you squinted, you could see the cause of said broken window flying out into parts unknown. He looked around the ransacked room and sighed.

"So…" he started awkwardly, "Again, what do we do?"

Dume's brow twitched in barely contained rage and irritation. "Firstly…get these hellions out of my office. Second, put them in a box together. Third, ship them back to Karzhani." (4)

"I said get back here!"

"Hehehehe!" Matau and a nude Kongu came racing back into the office, Kongu vanishing under the couch and Matau freezing at the mess.

He blinked, "…Mata-nui, I step out for only five minutes, and you all throw a party-celebration without me!"

A collective groan was heard from the others, mixed in with the now whimpering children. Nokama raised an unimpressed brow at Dume, ignoring Matau.

"How about, instead we get them out of your office…" Kongu ran past them and back down the hallway again, "Find them actual clothing, calm them down, and try to figure this out?"

"…can't we just ship them away like I said?"

"No."

"Fine…"

This time, however, Nuparu disapproved.

"Do again!" And promptly bounced over to another disk launcher.

"NO!" everyone yelled, the other infants taking off to either hide or cause their own mischief.

And so the round up ensured…

X~X~X~X~X~X

It took a good hour and a half, but everyone managed to round up their respective Matoran, minus Kongu. He took an extra hour to catch, and even longer to clothe.

Never had they felt such eternal gratefulness for Nokama that day. It seemed her recent hobby of sewing and mending had come in great handy now with their little 'bundles of joy'.

The process of measuring and making the little ones' clothing took a few hours, but they were relieved the Matoran behaved through most of it. All of the action and excitement had worn them out enough to get them to sit still. Well, most of them anyways…

Kongu, Hewkii, and Jaller seemed the most restless of the bunch. And even as a child, Jaller seemed to be the leader of the group. Ergo his leading the other two into an 'exploration' of sorts before being caught and forced to sit still with the others.

Shockingly, the previous excitement hadn't deterred any of them at all. But at the very least, they weren't anywhere near any dangerous objects or weapons. At least, none that they knew of…

And after getting the little bundles into proper clothing (Kongu seemed to prefer being nude, as he refused to keep his little shirt or pants on for more than two minutes before Matau bribed him with a piece of candy *sugar free of course*) the Turaga found themselves exhausted. And the day wasn't even over yet!

"Ugh, I'm too old for this…" Dume grumbled, slumping back into an armchair.

"Oh and we're just the perfect nannies?" Onewa growled. He was getting tired and crabby.

"Shut up and deal with it…" the elder fire Turaga grunted, crossing his arms.

A sudden thought occurred to Whenua at the moment. He looked over at the others meekly, as if forgetting why he was there.

"So…" he started at length, "Does anyone here even know _how _to, well…take care of them like this?"

That, it seemed, was the million widget question…

And of course, Matau being Matau, seemed to find a quick solution.

"Nokama does." He said. Said water Turaga frowned at him.

"Do I now?" she asked.

"Well yeah! I mean, don't you?"

"Oh so now just because I'm a girl, I suddenly know how to take care of children?"

"…is that not right?" (5)

Palming their foreheads, the Turaga contemplated this dilemma. They couldn't keep their current act up for much longer. Eventually, the little Matoran would get hungry and require certain foods. And if this whole thing was going to last for more than a week…they didn't want to think about it.

"Well great, we're stuck with six toddlers who were once our most trusted Matoran, and we have no idea how they got like this or how _long _they will stay like this!" Onewa exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

"There's nothing to be done about it brother. All we can do now is, well, wait." Nokama said calmly. Although she didn't sound too thrilled either.

Dume pinched his nose, "Does anyone here have any clue as to proceed?"

They all looked at each other expectantly, as if waiting for one or the other to suddenly come up with some brilliant idea.

"…there's a library here, right?" Nuju asked.

"Yes. In the lower levels. Why?" Dume said inquisitively. Nuju shrugged slightly.

"If we're lucky, there may be books on how to…take care of them. Maybe an explanation as to how this happened. I'm only guessing though." The ice Turaga stated. (6)

Everyone aside from himself seemed to have a 'how could I be so stupid' moment. But of course! The library was still very well intact from the falling of the city, there was bound to be something helpful there! If not an explanation of this, then at least a few books on how to take care of their infants.

And…speaking of which…

"Has anyone here noticed how…quiet it's been this whole time?" Whenua asked carefully.

They all looked around, as if realizing something. They looked along the ground, the walls, the _ceiling_, and nothing. Nothing was missing, out of place, broken, or even so much as moved or disturbed. All except the door, which was left just a smidge open.

This raised one very important question…

"…where did the children go?" Dume asked.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Hm, probably not my more favored chapter in this fic, more or less a filler to move things a bit more slowly and to, well, get the kids into actual clothing. But much more teeth-rotting sweetness to come! Bring a toothbrush and have your dentist on standby! XD_

_1)- Knock-knock! Who's there? The guy with the mask of levitation, that's who! XDD_

_2)- Kongu's a nudist! HOMG! XD_

_3)- Onewa has a potty mouth. lol_

_4)- Never mail your children. It is against the law and a waste of a perfectly good box!_

_5)- Let the record show, that just because you may be a girl, you're not an expert on kids, thank you very much. -_-'_

_6)- Books! The answer to all of life's mysteries...well...second only to the internet of course. Hehehehe..._

_._


	4. Hide and Seek part 1

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 4_

_Hide and Seek – Part 1._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_**A/N~ **__Ah, finally, the part you've all been waiting for! Hope you have a dentist on standby, cause this is where the tooth rotting cuteness takes off! All aboard!___

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

No actual POV, but individual surroundings and experiences will shift every now and again. The X~ line divides them just so you know.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Jaller was known for many things as a Matoran, by both friend and foe.

A captain of the guard, a fierce warrior, skilled craftsmen with fire and metals when he still resided in Metru-nui, a nuisance, and a few other choice words by enemies, and quite simply to others, a friend…

However, to some others, he could be described as a Kane-ra bull or a Kikanalo. The words 'short tempered' and 'stubborn' were not the only words used to describe him, but they were the primary words to describe him at times.

Case in point, right now.

The toddler that was once Jaller was wandering the vast halls of the Coliseum, his companion Hewkii following close behind.

Only moments ago, he led the others out of the room they were previously in. Now that they were much more mobile in their proper clothing, they figured they'd explore a bit.

The place was so big! The hallways themselves were big enough to probably allow a juvenile Kane-ra bull to walk through comfortably. There were lots of new and weird looking things, especially shiny things! Kongu seemed to like shiny things, so that was a plus for them. (1) Sometimes they'd see a small Stone rat every now and again. Matoro took quite the fancy to those before one of the others scared it off with their enthusiasm.

Pausing in his wobbly trek, Jaller blinked up at the three hallways splitting off from the one they were previously in. One to their left, the other to the right, and the third middle one continuing forward. Well, this wouldn't do.

"Where we go Ja?" Hewkii asked. Jaller pouted at the nickname. (2)

"Dis way." And he promptly marched forwards down the middle hall.

"No. Wanna go tha' way." Nuparu pointed to the hall to the left.

"No! Dis way!" Kongu pointed to the right. Jaller shook his head, puffing his cheeks in irritation.

"No! Dis way!" he snapped. Matoro cocked his head.

"We go our way?" he suggested. Jaller fixed him with an annoyed look, mostly directed at the fact Hahli was holding the small Ko-Matoran's hand. (3)

"Hmph, fine. Hawi goes wit' me though." He said.

"Hahli…" Hahli corrected, fiddling with the hem of her little blue dress. She didn't look too excited.

"Hawi?" Jaller asked.

"No! Hahli!

"Halwi?"

"Hahli!"

"Hawaii?"

"HAHLI!" (4)

The other four watched their little back and forth game of 'what's my name' before becoming a bit restless. Kongu ultimately decided he wanted to go left, and did so with Hewkii following him.

Matoro was getting a bit bored of all the yelling and decided to go right…

"Pwitty!" (5)

Obviously with an enthusiastic Nuparu following him. He wasn't looking forward to that.

"Name not pwitty. It's Matoro." He said.

"'Toro?"

"Ma-toro."

"M'toro?"

"…" the little ice Matoran wasn't going to get into it. Instead he chose to just ignore the whole thing and move on.

Hahli and Jaller could still be heard yelling in the background (at least Hahli was yelling, Jaller just sounded confused). With Kongu and his companion Hewkii going the other way, it was obviously going to be a very difficult hunt for their Turaga…

X~X~X~X~X~X

"This is ridiculous!"

Really, it was. At least to him and the others. Turaga were _not _babysitters, let alone babysitters who have to find said babies and just pray they haven't gotten into any trouble and or maimed. Which would be bad.

"You think I'm enjoying this?" Whenua asked.

"No, but you know it's true!" Onewa snapped back.

The two of them had been wandering the lower regions of the Coliseum for the past half hour now, looking for their hell spawn. Not an easy feat, considering the giant size of the Coliseum and the tiny stature of the kids. It was more or less like trying to find six mobile needles in a five story haystack.

Best case scenario, they find them before nightfall. Worst case scenario, they don't find them. Even worse case scenario, they find them injured or worse.

"Ugh, where would they even go?" Onewa asked.

"Not a clue. They're children now, they could be anywhere." Whenua said dejectedly, "In a room, up on a bookshelf, under a chair, in a tree, on the roof…in some rahi's stomach…" (6)

Onewa blinked at the statement before rolling his eyes, but none the less continued looking and calling for the little ones. Obviously no answer came. They were starting to wonder if they were intentionally ignoring their Turaga…

"Wonder how they're doing anyways…" Whenua wondered aloud, concern clear in his voice.

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Wheeeeeee~!"

"Yaaaaaaay!"

Against the Turaga's thoughts, the kids were alright. And Kongu and Hewkii apparently discovered an old engine room, and were making the best of their time with riding on the various pushing, pulling, swinging, and spinning machinery.

"Faster!" Kongu laughed, spinning himself faster on a large cog wheel.

Hewkii cackled merrily as he swung from a chain linked to the ceiling, narrowly missing the dangerous equipment he'd swing between.

Yep, absolutely no danger here…

X~X~X~X~X~X

Hahli was a girl known for her bold attitude and strong willed charisma.

A fair athlete and a good fighter when need be, and also a good friend. Probably known for being 'one of the boys' in some aspects, she was a tough cookie.

Or at least, she _was._

Now as a toddler again, her persona did a complete back flip. (7)

She jumped at pretty much any loud or sudden noise, and whenever Jaller tried to touch her hand, she'd shy away. It didn't help that they were in a more run down part of the Coliseum, so it wasn't hard finding old and creaky areas. The little Ta-Matoran was at first frustrated, but let it go when he was seeing how frightened Hahli was getting.

"Why you scared?" he asked as they continued along.

"I-I not scared!" Hahli protested with puffed cheeks. Well, she at least retained her stubbornness.

Just about then, a small Stone rat ran by, causing her to squeak and cling to Jaller's arm, trembling as she did so. Jaller blinked, slightly confused.

"It's just a wat…" he said. Hahli blinked, seemingly realizing what she was holding, and jumped back, her face slightly red.

"I-I know dat!" she said. Jaller cocked his head.

"But you got scared?"

"D-did not!"

"Yah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-HUH!"

"Nah-UH!" (8)

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Pwitty!"

"Stop it!"

Matoro rarely ever got this irritated, even as an older Matoran. His mellow nature and soft spoken attitude pretty much gave him immunity from being easily annoyed. Sometimes…

Now, however, he was annoyed to a good point. And he was tired. He couldn't find his papa! Why he even agreed to go with Jaller in the first place was still unknown to him. His curiosity got the better of him, he supposed.

"Pwitty!"

"My name not pwitty!"

And Nuparu…why oh WHY did he let the little black-haired nuisance follow him? And why did he keep calling him pretty? His name was Matoro! Not-

"Pwitty!"

-that. That was getting on his nerves.

Speeding up his teetering pace, Matoro once again tried to ignore the happily striding Onu-Matoran. He was at least grateful he finally shut up for a while.

"…what we lookin' for?" Nuparu suddenly asked.

"Papa." Matoro answered simply.

"Oh…" And they continued on without speaking. For a moment.

"Who yer papa?" the Onu-Matoran asked after a brief pause.

"Papa is papa."

"Oohhh…"

Another pause.

"…what's he look like?"

"Tall."

"He nice?"

"Uh-huh."

"Pwitty like you?"

"Ye-wha? No!"

"You're pwitty!"

"Stop it!"

"Pwitty!"

"Ugh…"

If he were his older self, Matoro would be wondering if it were possible for a toddler to get a migraine…(9)

X~X~X~X~X~X

"What did we ever do to deserve this?"

Nokama honestly didn't know. She could think of a few things Matau did to deserve this, but as of now, nothing was really making too much sense now. Honestly, going to their homes and finding their Matoran turned into infants was bad enough. Losing said infants in such a huge place was worse.

But honestly…Nokama was getting to that point where she wanted to laugh. Not from the situation, no, not in the slightest. But from how Nuju was reacting!

He was practically fidgeting now. Eyes shifting from left to right to try and pinpoint where the kids might be. Mostly Matoro from the looks of it. She and the other Turaga had been teasing Nuju relentlessly for years about their little father-son relationship. Nuju would always full out deny it with stubborn resolve, but that just made his care for the Matoran all the more obvious. (10)

And now…now he was pretty much reduced from a cool, level headed Turaga to a panicking parent. It was honestly laughable!

"Nuju, I'm sure he's fine now." She tried to reassure, and without cracking into a smile. The latter was rather difficult.

"Well how do you know? For all we know, they could have gone outside! And he's small enough to be picked off by a damn bird!"

Yep, he was worried. Scratch that, he was _panicked._ Although he was trying to hide it (with very little success), he was hysterical.

He was worried, obviously, about Matoro. With the Matoran's new, much small, stature and infantile mind, he could get into any number of problems. Whether by his own hand or by the other's. Although, even if he stuck his tiny hand in a light socket, most likely he'd still blame the other five infants…

But really! What if he really did stick his hand in a light socket? What if he fell over and hit his head on something? What if he was lost? What if he walked up to some rabid rahi and was eaten?! Or what if he walked off the edge of a cliff and fell into a smelting pit then was spewed out by a puff of gas then eaten by a passing by bird with a chronic bowel defect!? (11)

"Brother…?"

"Huh…?" he rasped.

"…do I even want to know what you're thinking of?"

"…not really."

"Then stop thinking about it. Matoro is _fine_."

"…"

He didn't stop thinking about any of it for the remainder of the search…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Geez, took me a while to update this one, mainly because I had SO many scenarios I wanted to do, I couldn't decide which to put first! That and I had a bit of a block. Lol_

_But anyways! You get an update! And possibly an update tomorrow in Falling Black. Look forward to it! _

_More cuteness to come and even more mush to melt your faces!_

_1)- Soooo shiiiiiiinnnnyyyyy... w _

_2)- Baby talk! Ain't it adorable? XD_

_3)- Awww someone's jealous!_

_4)- Either you can't remember a name, or you can't pronounce it. That, or you can't seem to grasp the King's English and are therefore an idiot...I'm kidding. XDD_

_5)- You ever had a constantly following admirer when you were little? If you have, you should be feeling some déjà-vu and sympathy for Matoro. XD_

_6)- Well that was some dark thoughts there._

_7)- Many have theorized or experienced, when they were little, they are the complete opposite of what they are today. I myself am included in this persona teeter-totter, and I find it pretty interesting._

_8)- It's a denial-off! GET IN THE CAR!_

_9)- Hm, now that's a good question actually. Can toddlers get migraines? O.o'_

_10)- D'aaw we all know you love Matoro Nuju, just admit it. XD_

_11)- ...I take it back. THAT was a pretty dark and uh...gross thought._


	5. Hide and Seek part 2

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 5_

_Hide and Seek – Part 2._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_**A/N~ **__Oh lookie, an update. Is the world ending? It must be! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!_

_Hehe, I kid. But anyways, on with the fic._

_And also! PLEASE respond to my A/N in my falling black fic! I'm so stumped I'm ready to tear my hair out! If it by then doesn't just fall out on its own! *hair falls out*…aw sh**…_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

Stone rats were silly.

No really, they were! They were fun to watch. Their twitchy noses, little pink feet, big black eyes, and giant ears, they were so cute and fun to play with!

Or at least, Matoro thought so. Nuparu said they were icky. He was wrong. Rats were fun!

"Icky…" Nuparu said in distain as Matoro followed one around down a hallway.

"Nuh-uh! Funny!" Matoro chirped, merrily following the rat's zig-zag pattern around the hall and towards a door.

Or so they assumed it was a door. It honestly looked like someone had tried to close up a giant hole in the back wall with a bunch of wooden planks. They were all pretty old and falling apart, holes littering a few spots as well as a few cracks.

One such crack became the rat's escape route, much to Matoro's disappointment.

"Aaww…where he going?" he whined, getting down on his hands and knees to peek through the hole in the wood.

"I dunno. M'tired though…" Nuparu said, punctuating his words with a long yawn.

"Nupu…I see outside!" Matoro said excitedly. (1)

"Reawy?" The Onu-Matoran hunkered down beside Matoro and pressed his face beside the other's, trying to see through the hole as well.

And sure enough, it was the outside. Or, it looked like it. Sort of. It was dark and dank, almost depressing. Fog was everywhere, and it was a bit dark. But still, it was outside! And he could see his rat friend by a bunch of rocks!

"How we get out?" Nuparu asked.

"Hmm…" Matoro thought, puffing his cheeks in a small frown.

Looking around, he couldn't see any windows or any other way out. But out of the corner of his eye, he managed to catch sight of a very large hole a few feet above them. It wasn't very big, but he could probably squeeze through it easily. But it was pretty high up…

He looked over at Nuparu and blinked.

"You stwong?" he asked. Nuparu blinked before giving a full watt grin and holding his arms up in a flexing pose.

"Supah stwong!" he beamed. Matoro smiled. (2)

"Good!"

X~X~X~X~X~X

Hahli hated the dark. It was just so…dark.

Well of course it was dark, it's _dark! _They couldn't tell time, but a couple hours had passed since they left to explore, and she was getting tired. Her feet hurt from nonstop walking, her nerves were on edge, and she was hungry.

She had voiced these things to Jaller, and determined as the Tta-Matoran was to impress the Ga-Matoran, he assured her they were going back to their Turaga.

He told her this a half hour ago. And he was refusing to admit that they were, in fact-

"We're not lost!" (3) Jaller yelled for what was the eighth time. Hahli whimpered.

"Then where we going? I wanna go back to 'kama…" she whimpered.

"I know where we going!" Jaller tried to reason, but Hahli's eyes were watering and her lip was trembling. She was very close to crying about now.

"N-no cry! No cry! U-um…" Jaller looked around, as if trying to find some answer in the dimly lit corridor. No such luck.

Think fast. Find an idea. Don't let her cry! Do something! _Say _something!

"Uh…! Uh…! Um…!" Clueless, Jaller reopened his mouth and said, "Bwave!"

…well that wasn't at all random. Jaller was mentally kicking himself for having such a clueless mouth, and an even more clueless brain.

Hahli looked just as confused, but had stopped crying, instead looking at Jaller curiously.

"Wha…?" she sighed.

"Uhh…" Jaller tried to fill in the blank stop in his little red head, eventually coming up with something, "You…very bwave."

Well, it was _something_ at least…

Hahli blinked, wiping her eyes of the few stray tears that managed to drip down her little face. Again, she seemed confused, but his words seemed to sink in after a while, and she fidgeted.

"Reawy?" she whimpered. Jaller sensed an opening and nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! You…very bwave. Comin' down here an' stuff…an' not cwying…" he said between pauses, as if trying to find a proper sentence to draw from.

Again, Hahli did a double take, as if not understanding, before her face flushed slightly and she started fiddling with the hem of her dress again. This seemed to be her way of showing embarrassment or anxiety.

"Thank…you…" she said shyly.

"Uh…yeah…"

An awkward pause ensured. It was at least quiet and no one was crying now, so that was good. But honestly, Jaller was starting to miss the franticness of the situation. He felt really weird just standing there with neither of them saying or doing anything.

Still fiddling with her dress, Hahli looked up at Jaller shyly, "You…bwave too…"

"…reawy?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Thanks…" another awkward pause. It was so weird and uncomfortable. But at the same time, they were happy they had the other by their side. It would be scary as hell being alone in this situation.

Finally, now sick of the uncomfortable silence, Jaller grew restless and half turned so his side was to Hahli, reaching out and grabbing her hand. He didn't see her confused expression, but he seemed to answer her questioning look anyways.

"Come on. We gotta find others." He said, tugging her along.

Although she didn't respond and was a bit confused by the sudden change in attitude and subject, Hahli smiled and tightened her grip on her companion's hand, suddenly finding the situation wasn't as scary as she thought.

X~X~X~X~X~X

It was getting late…

Understatement of the century aside, this wasn't good.

In a few hours, maybe less, the sun would set and whatever rabid, insane, and most likely very hungry, Rahi that was in hiding would start to come out and prowl the streets for food. Food being possibly the still lost toddlers. The Turaga were not pleased. And probably more importantly, they were getting _very _worried.

Well, not as much as Nuju was being right now, but still worried.

"…you know, if this were any other situation, I'd be laughing so hard right now." Onewa said in a tone somewhere between surprised and a bit uneasy.

"I know. I don't even have the heart to poke happy-fun at him." Matau said.

"Should we…do something? Like, before he paces a hole into the ground?" Whenua asked.

"I would say yes, but I don't really know what to do…" Vakama answered. The others sighed and shook their heads, resuming their back and forth head turning as they watched Nuju pace like a caged Rahi.

And as Onewa said, it would be pretty funny to the majority of them if it weren't for the obvious reasons.

And honestly, if the ice Turaga didn't stop pacing and get a grip on his spiraling nerves soon, they feared something very stupid might happen. For example, Matau was starting to wonder if his head would explode. Or maybe he'd look at one of them and make _their _heads explode. (4)

"Um…Nuju? Vakama started.

Nuju didn't answer, not even giving a noise of acknowledgment.

"Nuju…?" He tried again.

No response. Again.

"Nuju…"

Nothing.

"Nuju."

Still nothing. Now Vakama was annoyed.

"NUJU!"

"WHAT!?"

Everyone jumped at the sudden and unexpected response from the rather enraged looking ice Turaga. Matau nearly tipped out of the chair he was sitting in he was so startled. Vakama blinked uneasily at Nuju.

"Um…calm down, please?" he tried. Nuju now looked both annoyed and unimpressed.

"Calm down? _Calm down? _How can I calm down in a time like this!?" He snapped, continuing to pace. The others sighed.

"Nuju, is it really such a concern to you that Matoro is out there? He's FINE! He has the others with him no doubt." Dume tried to reason.

"Yeah, he's a bright-smart kid. Even as he is now, I heart-doubt he's stupid-dumb enough to so much as run with scissors." Matau added.

Nuju slowly turned to them with an unreadable look in his icy eyes.

"Have you all completely forgotten his little weakness?" he asked slowly.

"Weakness…?" Onewa asked. Nuju fully turned to them with his fists clenched and teeth grit.

"By the time the sun completely sets, what comes out of hiding?" he asked irritably. The others looked at each other before Vakama spoke.

"Um…Rahi?" he guessed.

"Yes. Now, consider this…" Nuju grit out, "Matoro, as an adult, is already prone to running up to anything with a tail and fur without a second thought, but he at least knows what is dangerous and what is not. Imagine him _without _that logic and fear. Imagine him, as a _child _and running up to the nearest thing with claws, fangs, and a very nasty attitude. You getting a pretty picture? Because I certainly am not!"

Well, they thought, that certainly summed everything up in a rather…lovely picture. But it also raised a red flag of realization.

They seemed to forget, that even though they were their Matoran and quite smart, they were _children _now, and held none of the caution or logic that kept them alive when they were older. And as children go, they are naturally curious and adventurous to the point of having no fear whatsoever. (5)

And with their new environment, which is already flooded with danger in the day time, they were at a serious risk of injury. But at night, the _real_ monsters come out.

"…well crap." Matau said, slightly dumbfounded.

Vakama palmed his forehead and sighed. Nuju wanted to scream.

So frustrated as they were, they didn't even notice two little green and brown dressed toddlers walking past the open door to the room and towards and open door to the outside…

X~X~X~X~X~X

"We go back?" Hewkii asked Kongu, referring to the group of rather familiar Turaga they had only moments ago passed.

"Nope!" Kongu chirped.

"…okay!" Hewkii chimed cheerfully.

And onward they went towards the outside. As they exited the coliseum, they came into what looked like a courtyard. Well, what was left of one anyways. A good portion of what would be a surrounding wall was nothing but a pile of rubble and debris. A few rocks, a fallen tree or two, dirt, pebbles, puddles of some murky liquid, and what used to be bushes.

Definitely not a playground…

"…booooooooorrrinnnnggg!" Kongu whined.

"Mud!" Hewkii rather enthusiastically bolted for one of the muddy puddles, seemingly finding it necessary that he had to belly-flop into it rather than take a more elegant approach.

"Yay!" Was the bubbled and gurgled cheer from Hewkii's submerged face. He waved his arms and legs around as if he was making a mud-angel. (6)

"Ew…" Kongu said with a grimace. He was honestly hoping for a tree or two to climb. But those skeletal trees a ways off didn't even look like they could support a hummingbird.

Huffing with a pout, Kongu plopped himself down onto his bottom with crossed arms, waiting for Hewkii to finish up doing…whatever it was he was doing. After a few moments of nonstop mud-rolling, Kongu grew bored and shifted his gaze around. His lime-green eyes settled on a white spot a few yards off. Moving closer as it was, he quickly was able to make out what, or rather who, it was.

"Matty!" Kongu promptly stood up and bolted for the curious white Matoran, practically glomping him like a lifeline.

"Um…hi?" was all Matoro could offer from the unexpected embrace. Hewkii poked out of his little mud-hole and blinked.

"Matty's back!" And abruptly stood up and shot towards the other two with his arms out for a group-hug. Still covered head to toe in mud.

"Ah! No Hewkii! NO!"

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Did you hear something?" Whenua asked.

"What? Those voices of yours again?" Nuju hissed. Whenua barely resisted the urge to say something nasty to his icy counterpart.

"No. I'm talking about-"

"Nyah!"

"-that." Whenua finished after a rather pathetic whine traveled down the corridor they were in.

"…sounds like that cat Matau stepped on a while back." Nuju remarked.

"Gyah! Lemme out!"

"…do cats talk?" Whenua asked.

"No." And promptly the two rushed down the rest of the lengthy corridor and found the source of the noise.

Or rather, the back end of the noise…

"Is that…Nuparu?" Nuju asked.

"I think so…?"

Sure enough, what they thought was Nuparu, was wedged within a hole in what was once an entryway to the courtyard of the coliseum. Everything from the waist down was dangling outside the hole and in front of them, while everything above the waist was no doubt making the writhing and whining noises as he struggled to wriggle out of the hole. To no avail. (7)

It was…honestly, they could laugh at this. If Matau were with them, he'd be writhing on the floor in hysterics.

"Well…that's one." Nuju muttered.

"Five to go." Whenua moved to the kicking figure trapped in the hole and sighed, "Nuparu, hold still, I'll get you out."

"No!" was the muffled response.

"Why exactly?" Whenua asked tiredly.

"Gotta find pwitty!"

"…'pwitty'?" Nuju asked.

"I think he means Matoro." Whenua explained. He held back the rather uncouth snicker when Nuju's eyes slightly lit up at the mention of his Matoran's name, instead choosing to focus back on the problem stuck in a hole.

"We're looking for him too. Just tell us where he is and we'll get him." He started as he grabbed the little Onu-Matoran's feet, "And quit squirming!"

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!"

Not too far from the site of Nuparu's predicament, two little trouble makers were having the time of their lives. In the air ducts. All of which turned out to make excellent slides. Very fast slides. (8)

And seemingly forgetting her fears, Hahli squealed in delight as they veered down a left chute and towards a downwards drop.

"Yay! Faster…!" Hahli cheered. Jaller cackled happily as they veered down another left chute, finally unscrewing his eyes from the rush to look ahead. He blinked.

"Uh-oh." The sudden 'uh-oh' referred to the air duct vent they were coming up on. Very fast…

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Well, that clears the east and north end, so that leaves the west and south wing." Vakama muttered, studying a map of the coliseum.

"That's if they stay in one of the wings…" Nokama sighed.

Vakama sighed as well, stopping to put the map away. They were both tired, and they weren't the only ones. Both of them and the other Turaga were on the verge of collapsing in exhaustion, both mental and physical.

"Think we'll find them tonight?" she asked.

"I do not know. It is hard to say. As grown Matoran, they were already somewhat of a handful." Vakama grumbled with crossed arms.

"You know that's not true."

"Oh come on Nokama. You and I both know that, if given the chance, they'd go off and do something stupid if we weren't around to correct them."

"Now you're just being stubborn."

"Ugh, then what Nokama? They were hard enough as grown Matoran, and now as toddlers, what do you expect them to do? Fall from the ceiling and expect everything to go all hunky-dory from then on?"

CLANK!

"Wheee~!

"Doh!"

Thunk!

Nokama blinked with wide eyes at the mess before her. Well that was rather unexpected. Here she was, just waiting for Vakama's rant to be over with, and then out of nowhere, the air duct above them shoots open and spits out two giddy yet confused toddlers onto Vakama's head, thus tumbling him over from the rather unexpected face-glomp. (9)

Kneeling down to the Ga-Matoran, Nokama picked the little girl up and couldn't resist a smarmy grin to her downed brother.

"Just as you said, dear brother." She chimed.

"Oh 'ut up…"was the muffled remark from under the toddler that seemed to see fit to lay sprawled over Vakama's face, giggling.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Matoro, he discovered, didn't like mud.

It got all over his face and hands, stuck and dried to his clothes, and probably worst of all, it dried and clumped into his hair. The heavy lumps yanked his hair down almost painfully, and made it impossible to keep out of his face.

Although his distaste for the mud was rather sour, it at least gave the others a reason to get off of him and to take care of their own mess. Currently he, Hewkii, and Kongu were trying to scratch and pull out the clumps of dried mud, to mostly no avail, but if it kept them from trying to wrestle each other into a puddle for a giggle or two, fine by them.

"Yuck…" Matoro grimaced as he pulled out a rather sticky and murky chunk of mud from his bangs. He ignored the others, who seemed to find it quite entertaining to throw the chunks of mud they pulled off at each other. They certainly got a kick out of it.

"Matty! Come pway!" Hewkii called.

"Dun wanna." Matoro muttered, more focused on trying to remove a patch of mud from his little blue sweater.

No response to his words, so he looked up from his attentive preening. He blinked a few times, surprised. Mostly at the four Turaga that were standing in front of the door Hewkii and Kongu had emerged from not too long ago. Although, from his stand point, all six wore the same expression. Wide eyed, slightly pale, staring at some point towards (or above?) him. Very odd.

"Hurph…"

A puff of warm, though smelly, air brushed down his neck. The expressions on the other's faces seemed to intensify. And that little breeze was still there, coming out in short puffs. It stank though. Like rotten meat.

"Ma…Matoro…?" the red Turaga (he forgot his name) (10) started. Matoro cocked his head in question to him. "Don't…don't move."

Don't move? Why? Did he do something wrong? And what was with this smelly air? It felt like it was staying in one place behind his neck.

Slowly, as if afraid whatever was blowing on his neck would run away, Matoro turned his head and looked up. His vision was filled with a rather menacing maw of sharp teeth and a grimacing muzzle with red eyes. Attached to the maw was a big head with pulled back ears. The head was connected to an even bigger, rather long and flexible body with a long tail. Connected to the body were long legs with huge paws, flexing out jagged sharp claws that looked in desperate need of a trim.

Well this certainly explained the odd 'breeze', which turned out to be the rather ragged and smelly breath of a Muaka cat ready to make a meal out of Matoro.

He didn't even so much of blink as he slowly turned all the way to the big cat.

He cocked his head inquisitively, and said,

"Kitty?"

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Huh? HUH? Well? Ain't I a tease? Ain't I betch for leaving you with THIS? Ain't I such a sucker for being a weirdo asking you all this? You bet your sweet ass I am! XDD_

_1)- Admit it, toddlers incapable of pronouncing names and using childish nicknames are adorable. ADMIT IT DAMNIT!_

_2)- He-baby! XD_

_3)- Boys. Even as toddlers, they refuse to admit they are wrong._

_4)- Nuju used explosion-stare! It's super effective! 8DD_

_5)- fact; children no older than five do seem to have a lack of fear or caution in certain situations. A good example would be my little phase where I constantly brought home garter snakes when I was four to my mom. I think I shaved off a few years of her life back then I scared her so much XD_

_6)- Stone and earth Matoran = mud lovers. Is that too much of a stereotype?_

_7)- Nuparu stuck in a hole. Priceless._

_8)- Air duct sliding SWOOT!_

_9)- Imagine Vakama's face being glomped by two cutsie toddlers. You WILL squeal._

_10)- Dume. Both he and Vakama would be considered 'red Turaga' but in this scene, it's him, not Vakama. Just to clarify._


	6. Kitty got claws

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 6_

_Kitty got Claws._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ And we get another chapter! Woohoo! 8DD_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

Dume, as his reputation dictated, was a rather temperamental bastard, and he would be the first to admit he was proud of that title.

Matoran, even Toa, feared and respected him. A simple stroll in the city was never a simple stroll through the city in their eyes. Constantly tailed by Vahki, some would consider him royalty, or simply high maintenance. In all honesty, both those assumptions were true.

He wasn't always very nice, especially to the younger, more naïve and prone to stupidity type. He was especially hard on new Toa. His personal beliefs trained from past experiences and the 'old ways' as a means of teaching. Many (namely those on the receiving end) didn't exactly approve of his methods, but as the saying stands,

'There is method to his madness.' (1)

Some believed it, some didn't. Dume certainly believed it. But he also believed this phrase DIDN'T apply to Matau and his beyond crazy ideas and antics. Irony was a bitch. (2)

Now, with this concoction of a personality, it should come as no surprise that many spoke badly of him behind his back. Never to his face though; that will get you a hundred years in the coal mines.

Rumors and sayings such as, he spits on puppies, he eats children, he drowns kittens, hell, there was once a little floater going around saying he strung idiot Toa up by their toes and beat them with his staff. (3)

Believable? To some, maybe. Although it didn't last any longer than a week. That was considered a new record in rumors concerning the hot headed Turaga. But did people believe these rumors? Yes, yes they did. But nine out of ten times it's either proven wrong or is covered up with a new rumor.

Anyways, the point here is, Dume wasn't a nice guy. He didn't tolerate idiots, nor did he have any patience for brats and snobs. Not as a Matoran, not as a Toa, and certainly not now. He was also rumored to be a sadist.

However! Rumors or not, didn't exactly change the fact that he was just going to sit by and watch some giant-ass cat rip the head off a once lovable Matoran turned infant!

…he just had to figure out how he was going to do this. He was drawing a blank.

"Oh…my…" Onewa seemed incapable of doing nothing other than staring. Nokama and Vakama were no different.

The kids were at least too terrified to make any noise or sudden movements. For now. Any moment now, they could start wailing and thrashing in around, and that could set the Muaka off. They were staring and thinking on borrowed time now.

They were just thankful Nuju wasn't here…

"Pwitty!"

'_Damn…!'_ they all thought.

"Get back here you little-!" In mid pursuit of the somehow escaped Onu-Matoran, Nuparu froze up at the sight of the backend of the giant cat staring down at a very familiar little white bundle. This caused the Turaga that was chasing him to practically topple over him like an uncoordinated moron over a dime. (4)

"Nuparu you little-!" Whenua stopped in mid rant when he saw what was making Nuparu freeze up and stare. And honestly, he was considering doing the same.

But a new thought came to mind…

'_Damn it all, if Nuju sees this, all Karzahni will break loose…!' _he thought.

No sooner had he thought this, Nuju rushed up to him with a scowl.

"For the love of Mata-nui Whenua! Is it too much to ask you to keep a grip on the little br-OH MY GOD!"

And, cue the 'on' switch for everything that was once stable to shatter to pieces.

The children shrieked in terror and scrambled, the Turaga jumping and yelping from the sudden outburst and only adding to the chaos. Nuparu, being closest to the big cat, started shrieking and crab walking back to Whenua, who was looking about ready to have a heart attack from both fright and shock.

At the sudden burst of noise and movement, the Muaka reared back and bellowed a great roar that seemed to shake the estate.

It looked over at Nuparu with murderous intent, opened its mouth and prepared to-

"Bad!"

As if a spell of silence had been cast, the entire courtyard fell into a stunned hush. By the throwing of nothing but a rock to the Muaka's nose.

By Matoro.

Who was, shockingly, standing and glaring at the Muaka like a misbehaved pet. The big cat itself sure looked a bit confused and shocked. It probably never experienced such odd behavior from its supposed prey.

Shock turned to rage, and the cat turned to Matoro to make a killing. It lunged down to bite him, Nuju making an instant dash to try and rescue him.

But it seems he had no need.

"I said BAD!"

The Muaka yelped, the Turaga were speechless. The little bundle actually had the bearings to reach up and clip the Muaka's nose when it 'misbehaved'.

Matoro puffed his cheeks, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Bad kitty! Go home!" he snapped, pointing to the gap in the bordering wall. (5)

Another moment of silence. Awkward wasn't a good word to describe this. Weird was a pretty good word. Downright screwed up was an even better word. Bat-shit crazy was a fantastic word for this.

Blinking once, twice, the Muaka seemed to be thinking. A short pause, and with a huff, it flopped onto its stomach with his head in its paws, submissive.

The Turaga were floored. The Matoran kids looked like they were watching an exciting TV show. Nuju looked like he was going to faint. Matoro beamed.

"Good kitty!" he chirped, patting its nose.

Standing up once again, after licking Matoro's face, the Muaka turned and lumbered off into the night without so much as looking back. Matoro waved after it happily.

Now, we can call the silent moment that followed awkward…maybe.

Too speechless to say anything, too stunned to move, and possibly too leeched of their last shreds of sanity to really think, the Turaga could only _stare_. (6) However, being children, the kids took this moment quite well.

Suddenly finding themselves chipper, they all cheered and raced over to group-hug Matoro for getting rid of the scary monster.

Whenua was the first to finally speak.

"Did…did that just happen?" he asked dumbly.

"Uuuhhh…" Vakama couldn't answer.

Right about then, Matau finally appears in the doorway, blinking in confusion at the scene before him.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

The other Turaga face palmed. Matoro looked confused. Nuju fainted.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Yep, short chapter, but hey, it's an update, more to come soon!_

…_what? Yes, I wrote it out like this…stop looking at me like that…I SAID STOP LOOKING!_

_1)- Quoted by Spakespear._

_2)- It's true, it is. TwT_

_3)- ...well...you never know..._

_4)- VERY funny mental image XDD_

_5)- I know you can imagine this, don't deny it._

_6)- Chaos and seriously random situations! CRACK for your sanity! 8D_


	7. Bathtime madness!

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 7_

_Bath-time Madness._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Wow, VERY quick update! Where's my reward? XD_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

_**ALSO! To Wolf girl 811!**_

_Dude, I would love you for life if you did a comic for this! You got my consent! And if you get a page or two done, please link me!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

"Bwahahahaha! I can't believe you fainted! Hahahahaha!"

"I did not FAINT!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!

Nuju pinched his nose and groaned. He was seriously _not _in the mood now. Quite frankly, none of them were. They were tired, nearly scared out of their wits when they lost their Matoran, almost dropped a few bricks in their pants when they found said Matoran, with a Muaka no less, and now they were down to their last shreds of sanity. And possibly got a few years shaved off their lifespans from stress.

Matau, however, didn't seem affected at all…

"You should have seen your face!" Matau cackled.

"Shut up…" Nuju growled, unconsciously tightening his hold around the white Matoran sitting in his lap.

"Alright enough already. Let's just try and move on here." Vakama said tiredly.

"And do what?" Whenua asked.

Their answer came in the form of a low, but very loud, grumbling noise.

They directed their attention to the noise, which happened to be coming from Kongu. His stomach, to be precise. Kongu himself looked surprised that he made such a noise. He looked down at his belly with shocked eyes.

"Hungwy!" he said with a pout.

The other toddlers seemed to agree with him, and started making their own announcements of wanting food. Dume sighed.

"Great, they destroy my office, wreak havoc on my Coliseum, now they're going to eat me out of my own home." He grumbled.

"Dume, they're children. They can't help doing what they do." Nokama chided.

"What do we even feed them?" Onewa had to ask.

Looking at each other expectantly, they shrugged. Nokama looked down at the little ones.

"Why not ask them?" she suggested.

"Alright…" Dume looked at them all, "Brats, what do you want to eat?" (1)

"Soup!" (2)

"Fish sticks!"

"Mac an cheese!"

"Chicken!"

"Nachos!"

"Cake!"

Well that went over well. Six different answers, six Matoran, six different tastes. Oh joy.

"…well, you two better get cooking!" Matau chimed, referring to Nokama and Nuju.

"Do we look like caterers to you?" Nuju snapped.

He and Nokama were the best cooks in their Toa days. But now a days (or at least when Matoro was still a grown Matoran) he mostly relied on the Matoran for his meals. More or less because he often forgets to eat, and Matoro has to nag him like his mother to get him to take care of himself. (3)

"Maybe…?" Matau tried with a stupid grin.

"Not happening."

"Perhaps a compromise?" Nokama suggested.

Well, that could work. There were plenty of foods pretty much everyone, both adult and child, liked. It was just a matter of finding which one. Maybe pasta? (4)

"CAKE!" (5)

…pasta it is.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Originally, when they got their Matoran back, they were going to bathe them.

However, due to the antics of their dinner…they were glad they saved it for last. Never in their lives had they seen such abolishing table manners from such little Matoran…

Well, from most of them anyways, mostly Hewkii and Kongu. The latter of the two seemed to prefer to wear his dinner as a hat (6), and Hewkii seemed to familiarize meatballs with actual balls and found it amusing to throw them at people.

Jaller seemed to revert back to his bully streak and was constantly trying to flick noodles at Hahli. The Ga-Matoran was not amused and somehow got her fork caught in one of her pigtails.

Nuparu, being the growing boy he was, finished his meal in a heartbeat, and was now using his inventive skills to combine a couple of forks to sneak extra from Matoro's plate (7). He was actually getting more _on_ Matoro than on his own empty plate. Matoro was just irritated and trying to have a peaceful dinner.

"I take it back…" Onewa grunted.

"Take what back?" Vakama asked.

"That promise I made to my mother that I would have kids…"

"Oh…"

Well, no one could really blame him…

They weren't exactly trained in the ways of caring for children. They were former Toa! They were meant to fight, to defend, and to, as Matau has claimed, kick ass. Not babysit!

Ironic really. They could stand and face against Makuta Teridax, encasing him in a seal, transform into vicious beasts and nearly lose their sense of humanity, and finally give up their powers to save their people, but they couldn't do _THIS_.

Now, taking care of toddlers it seems, was mission impossible to them.

It was almost a very sad thought, but it was fact. Sad fact, but fact.

"Can't get any worse can it?" Matau asked. (8)

"Catch!"

Matau just HAD to jinx it, as a meatball, courtesy of Hewkii, made contact with Dume's left eye, thus knocking him out of commission and onto his back with an indignant cry. Matau burst out into hysterical laughter along with Onewa. (9)

Vakama rolled his eyes, ignoring their immature antics as Dume sprung up and proceeded to chase them around the kitchen with a frying pan. He looked over at Nokama, Whenua, and Nuju.

"What should we do now? We can't keep an eye out on them forever! Our villages will start to suspect something once they find us and our right hand Matoran missing." He said worriedly. The others frowned at this, unsure.

"Good question. I'd say leave them with Dume, but, well…" Whenua paused, not even wincing when the sound of the frying pan making contact with something wrung through the air, followed by a pained squeak from Matau, "I think that would be a form of child abuse."

"We can't take them with us either though. Anyone could find out, and the last thing we need is to explain why there is an infant in the facilities." Nokama said.

"So what? We just take shifts here?" Nuju asked with a raised brow.

"It would be the best option. We don't have much a choice in the matter…" Vakama said solemnly.

The other two frowned at this, but had to agree. As Vakama said, they didn't have much choice…

"Alright…we take shifts to take care of them and try to find what the hell has caused all this, and then what?" Nuju asked.

"Hopefully reverse it. Or erm…in this case, move it forward. (10)" Vakama said meekly as a battered Matau and Onewa reentered the kitchen.

"Vakama, you come with the most idiotic-OUCH!" Nuju yelped and jumped with a start, covering his rear and finding a fork of all things stuck to him there. Plucking it out with a wince, he turned to the table of 'innocent' looking infants and silently demanded an answer. (11)

"…" Kongu didn't say anything, instead choosing to point at a rather distracted Hewkii, who seemed to have found a deep fascination with his reflection in a spoon.

Matau snickered beside him.

"Hehe, can't hit children Nuju~" he sang. Nuju gave him a blank stare…

Then he stuck the fork into his arm and hit him upside the head.

"YOUCH! What the-!? What was that for!?" the green Turaga shouted indignantly.

"Like you said. I can't hit children. So I'll settle for the next best thing, moron." The icy Turaga drawled. Matau gave him his trademark kicked-puppy look. Nuju ignored him while Onewa snickered at them.

Dume finally calmed and groaned at the mess.

"Can we please get these hellions out of here so I can get some peace of mind and possibly some of my sanity back?" he snapped.

"Nope!" Kongu chirped, giggling merrily from under his spaghetti hat. Dume fixed him with a death glare. But unfortunately the toddler just giggled more and waved a spoon at him, unfazed.

"Calm down Dume. Best we can do now is get them all cleaned up, find something in the library to help us, and maybe, _maybe_, get some sleep ourselves." Vakama started.

A small pause ensured, filled with a few exhausted sighs and sour looks. Onewa looked up at the others.

"So…who's on bath duty?" he asked.

…

"…not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

That left just Dume, Nuju, Whenua, and Nokama. Dume fixed them with an unimpressed look and crossed his arms.

"I have work to do. You three are on your own." And quite quickly for someone his age, he sprinted out the door and to parts unknown.

A bit of a stare off ensured, as well as a quick scan of the kitchen mess. Someone had to clean this mess. Someone had to clean the kids. Kids or kitchen?

…really, it was a no brainer.

"Well, have fun!" Two kids were shoved into each of the three startled Turaga's arms by Matau, "Don't forget to get behind their ears!"

"And try not to drown them!" Onewa added with an innocent grin.

The two rather chipper Turaga wandered off for the supply closet to clean up, leaving Vakama with three rather annoyed Turaga. The guys gave him irritated looks, Nokama giving a more pleading look for help.

"…uh…" he eyed the kids and nearly blanched. He wasn't sure if it was his own mind playing tricks on him, but he was pretty sure they were giving him evil scheming looks. This followed by some rather odd, though frightening, mental images of him either tied up, hanging over a boiling vat, or stuffed in a closet and gagged. (12)

The kitchen was looking awfully welcoming now…

"…have fun!" And he flees for the door.

Somewhere, out in their little world, someone died of laughter at their predicament from the smoldering look the guys were giving the back wall in which Vakama vanished behind…

X~X~X~X~X~X

Hewkii, it turned out (though unsurprisingly), didn't like water. Never as a grown Matoran, not even now. He couldn't swim, so that was a major factor to his dislike of the liquid. But also base instinct played a role in it. (13)

Po-Matoran simply weren't built for water life, so to speak. Generations had gone by in many families, with not a single one of the family ever learning to so much as float in an inner tube. Mud puddles became substitutes for the water based game of 'Marco Polo'.

And unfortunately, they were stuck with the screaming little hellion. Somehow he was managing to get them more wet than he was…

"Damn it Hewkii just…! Hold STILL! It's not going to bite you!" Whenua snapped, trying to get the writhing Matoran into the bath.

"NOOOOOO!" The little brunette cried, clinging rather pathetically to the side of the tub.

The others, consisting of Jaller and Kongu (the bath wasn't big enough to put them all in, so they had to take turns in small groups) who went into the bath without as much a fuss, seemed to find this funny as they watched Whenua try to get a grip on the Po-Matoran with slippery wet hands.

Nuju was standing off to the side near the counter, trying to get the bulk of the mess off of the other two (Matoro and Nuparu) before they had their turn. He was silently envying Nokama at the moment. She and Hahli got their own bathroom, claiming it was best the little Ga-Matoran wasn't exposed to so much boyish-ness.

He raised a silver brow as Hewkii once again managed to slip from Whenua's grasp and hid under the sink. Again.

"Your parenting skills are of the utmost impeccable." He said sarcastically.

"Oh like you would be any different! This job would be easy for you with your damn mask!" Whenua snapped.

"True, but you lost the game, so mask power or not, we had a deal. You were just too stupid to realize this before it was too late."

The game he referred to was a three round game of 'knife, paper, stone'. (14) Whenua seemed to find it appropriate to keep using stone until he got it right. He lost two out of three rounds.

"I hate you…" Whenua grit out, trying to yank out the hiding Po-Matoran.

"The feeling is mutual, I can assure you. Now quit fooling around and get him in the tub already."

"You think I'm not trying to-OW!" Whenua fell back onto his rear, clutching his hand with a shocked expression on his face.

"What?" Nuju asked in a bored manner.

"H-he BIT me! The little brat bit me!" Nuju blinked. (15)

"Did he? Well, I'm impressed." He said. Whenua was livid now.

"You little-!" Whenua dove under the sink to try and restrain the struggling toddler, "I swear Hewkii, if you don't come out right now, I'm drowning you!"

"Whenua…" Nuju started.

"What!?"

"Kongu escaped."

"…"

X~X~X~X~X~X

"You think the others are doing alright?" Onewa asked.

"Pft, are you joke-kidding? If they haven't by then drowned the kids, those kids will drown them!"

"Still, I somewhat feel bad…"

"Bad enough to go help them?"

"I said I felt bad, not suicidal."

Vakama sighed and shrugged, turning back to trying to scrape a blob of pasta from the _ceiling _of all places. He was actually quite impressed really.

He still felt a bit guilty for leaving the other three to their untimely demise. Nokama would no doubt be a bit bitter towards him for a while, much to his dismay. He was silently wondering just what Dume was up to right now…

'_Probably plotting some means of sending the little ones to another island…'_ He thought. He sighed.

A sudden thudding noise, followed by a loud curse and splashing noise, made them all pause in their cleaning. They looked at each other and frowned.

"What was-?"

"Wind-fwy! Wind-fwy! Shit! Hahahaha! Hoo-hoo!"

Before Onewa could even ask, their answer came sprinting down the hallway in the form of a bubble covered Kongu, followed by an equally nude Hewkii and Jaller, the latter of which was wearing a towel as a cape. A very confused looking Matoro was sitting on said 'cape' and being dragged along, Nuparu following close behind and reaching for him like a cat chasing a string. (16)

And as fast (and randomly) as they had appeared, they vanished down the hall in a flurry of bubbles and giggles.

A somewhat awkward, if not confused, pause ensured. A moment later, Nokama peaked in with a now clean Hahli bundled in a towel and looking ready for bed.

"…did I just see the boys-?"

"Yes."

"…alight then."

They had a bit of another pause before they ultimately decided that it would make sense to check up on Nuju and Whenua to find out what happened instead of standing there like a bunch of idiots.

They went up to the bathroom where the two Turaga were supposed to be bathing the kids. But apparently, the roles reversed in this case.

They found Whenua and Nuju tangled up in the shower drapes, in the tub with the utmost murderous looks they'd ever seen. Predictably, Matau was starting to crack up.

"DON'T. Say. Anything." Nuju growled.

"I didn't speak-say anything…not a thing…!" Matau gave up the charade and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach in mirth as he doubled over.

"Erm…have fun?" Vakama tried. He yelped and ducked as a soap bar was chucked his way.

"Will you shut up and get us out of here!?" Whenua snapped. The tub was slippery and he and Nuju were too tangled in the curtain, and each other, to get out without help.

"Oh for the love of…" Nuju activated his mask, yanking the curtain out from around them, then, quite literally, kicked Whenua off of himself before lifting himself out of the tub and onto his feet.

"Ugh, where are the kids now?" he grunted, trying to wring the soapy water out of his clothes.

Their answer came in the form of a very loud, very angry, shout from somewhere in the north wing.

"WHAT THE HELL!? GET OUT OF MY FUCKING OFFICE!"

"FOCK!"

A nervous tension passed between the six Turaga, all too familiar with the angry tone by now. Whenua looked over at Vakama, Onewa, and Matau.

"For-fricken-get it. YOU three get the brats. I'm getting a stiff drink." He promptly marched out of the bathroom.

"What!? Why would we-?"

Onewa froze at the absolute death glare he received from Nuju. No one, not even Onewa, was capable of saying no to THAT expression. Not possible.

He looked to Nokama for help, his expression pleading with the blue Turaga to help him. Nuju never could say no to her after all.

"Sorry Onewa, but it seems Hahli needs to be put down to sleep now. Have fun." She left as well, barely concealing her smug smirk at their stunned expressions.

"VAKAMA! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE AND GET THESE BRATS OUT OF MY OFFICE BEFORE I KILL THEM!"

"AZZ!"

Seeing as they weren't going to be shown any mercy, the three Turaga sighed in defeat, and proceeded to make the journey into the 'lion's den'.

X~X~X~X~X~X

It was finally, _finally_, the end of the day.

But even so, none of the Turaga dared to let out a relived sigh just yet for fear of jinxing it. They pretty much all walked on eggshells as they redressed their Matoran and prepared to put them to bed.

Luckily the Coliseum was such a large place with numerous rooms. One of them served very well for their infants, holding two large, low to the ground beds. They also made sure it was close enough to their own rooms to hear if they got up and tried to escape. The Turaga were apparently too exhausted to make the journey back home that night, and settled for staying overnight until morning to see who would take first shift.

And as exhausted as they were, they were very thankful the little Matoran seemed to be just as tired.

And once they were put to bed, and making sure that Kongu wasn't faking or hiding anything under his pillow (17), the Turaga quietly crept out of the bedroom, making sure to carefully shut the door, and tiptoed to their room.

They didn't risk relaxing until they were sure the infants wouldn't hear them. Once they were put down to bed, and they themselves were safely in their room, they collapsed in random areas of the room with tired sighs.

"I can't do this…" Matau whined, sprawled over an arm chair.

"Gee, I couldn't tell." Onewa grumbled.

"Ugh, shut up all of you. I'm too tired to deal with you…" Vakama groaned.

A collective groan was his response, and he chose to ignore it. They were all too tired to even so much as twitch a finger. In fact, they had been so preoccupied with the kids, they didn't even get a chance to get down to the library and find any helpful information. And they certainly were in no condition to do so now.

"Let's just…go to sleep and figure this out in the morning." Vakama muttered, shifting onto his side on his bed. No one needed to even answer an agreement to the plan. They didn't even bother turning out the light, instead deciding to drop off in a comatose state.

X~X~X~X~X~X

About an hour or so passed after the Turaga dropped off to sleep. It was also when, during the night, the door to their room shakily opened by the hand of a tiny red-head Matoran standing on the tips of his toes to reach the handle. Looking around inside and finding their caretakers, he waved back to the door and was soon joined by five other little Matoran.

Excited chirps and cooing followed before Jaller put a finger to his mouth and shushed them. They couldn't wake them!

Calming and hushing, the Matoran broke up and scattered around the room, looking for their respective Turaga. It didn't take them long, and without even so much as stirring the knocked out adults, climbed up into their arms and snuggled into an arm or side. (18)

Not too long passed before they too fell asleep.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Swoot! New chapter! Much longer than the others, so I'm quite happy. Lol_

_1)- This is Dume's nickname for them all. He's so mean XD_

_2)- lol bet you can't tell who said what. HOMG THERE'S A CHALLENGE!_

_Try and guess who said what in the specific order in which it was said, and get a giant cookie! 8DD_

_3)- lol Nuju's got a nanny. Oh role reversal much? XD_

_4)- I cannot think of a single person who doesn't like some form of pasta. It's a universal dish people! Gotta love the Italian!_

_5)- It should be obvious who's saying this lol_

_6)- No matter the food, it's hilarious and adorable when kids wear their breakfast/lunch/dinner as a hat._

_7)- Well, he is a growing boy after all. Miners gotta grow up big and strong! XD_

_8)- VERY bad thing to ask in a situation like this._

_9)- Dume got meat-balled XDD_

_10)- Du-du-dund, teesh!_

_11)- Silly fork in the butt is silly XD_

_12)- this is actually a very thinkable thought._

_13)- Pretty obvious really, but yeah, I am pretty damn sure Po-Matoran aren't exactly too keen on water._

_14)- A bionicle-verse version of 'rock, paper, scissors' in case you were wondering._

_15)- lol Whenua got bit XDD_

_16)- I can guarantee, you will grin and or giggle at this mental image._

_17)- babysitting Kongu 101. Rule #25, always check for objects and/or devises that may be in his possession when asleep or alone for long periods of time. Hell will happen if you neglect this._

_18)- So CUUUUUUUUUTE~!_

_REVIEW PLEASE!_


	8. Dogpile!

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 8_

_Dogpile! _

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Hmm…what to put in this A/N…aw who cares? You don't come here to read A/Ns, you come here for the fics!_

…_right? Right._

…_oh whatever. XD_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

The next morning, while a bit calmer (although surprising, waking up with an armful of toddlers considered), it didn't seem to improve the Turaga's moods and attitudes much, despite having a fitful rest and waking up into the early hours of noon.

Probably the most sleep any of them have gotten in quite a while. And probably one of the few, if not only times, they've slept in up until noon.

Although, as much as they slept, not all of them got a fitful rest…

"Ugh…someone kill me…" Matau whined, he along with the others assembled in the kitchen with coffee and tea.

"Quit complaining and man up…" Onewa grumbled. He wasn't in much better shape.

Matau woke up that morning face down on the floor instead of in the armchair he had previously fallen asleep in the night before. Kongu was sprawled out on the chair rather fitfully while Matau suffered a major back and shoulder ache. Onewa wasn't much better off. Hewkii seemed to suffer from RLS (1), as he kept kicking Onewa during the night, even managing to kick him off the bed at least once.

The others slept just fine though. Much to their dismay.

As for the kids, it seems both Kongu and Matoro were NOT morning people. Unsurprisingly to Nuju; Matoro never liked getting up from a fitful sleep, at least not without a strong coffee. Now too young to even drink the stuff, he was a bit crabby. He pretty much had to be dragged out of bed and carried to the kitchen for breakfast (or since it was nearly noon, brunch). Kongu just didn't want to wake up in general like any other kid; refusing to go to bed when told, and refusing to get up when told.

Eggs and Toast were laid out for the toddlers, and thankfully, they weren't as messy as they were during dinner.

"I know this must be getting old, but I have to ask," Vakama started, "What now?"

Dume sighed, setting his death-black coffee aside to think. Whenua and Nokama were down in the library at the moment to find anything that could help them, leaving himself, Vakama, Onewa, Matau, and Nuju to come up with something in the meantime.

"I honestly have no clue. Keep them out of trouble for now I suppose…" He shrugged. He gave Kongu a weary glance as the little bugger tried to flick an egg at Matoro, "Although, that may be asking a bit much…"

Seeing as he was caught, Kongu gave a cheeky, innocent grin and instead stuck the egg in his mouth. Matoro was oblivious and looked more or less ready to fall back asleep face first into his eggs. (2)

"Pway time!" Nuparu suddenly announced, already finished with his breakfast as fast as last night's dinner. (3)

"Yeah!" Jaller and Hewkii chimed.

The elders sighed as the three were joined by their companions in their announcement to go and play.

"Play what?" Onewa asked with a raised brow.

"Outside!" Kongu exclaimed.

"Out of the question." Nuju said firmly. The others gave him confused looks.

"Why not? Its daylight, not like any Rahi are out." Dume said.

Nuju merely frowned with crossed arms, turning his head to one side in a stubborn manner. The others blinked before Matau broke out into a grin. (4)

"Aww, he's heart-worried something is going to steal away his little snow-rabbit." He cooed.

"I am NOT!" Nuju snapped, his face turning a slight tinge of red. Whether from embarrassment or anger was unknown. Although they took a good guess it was the latter.

Matau just cackled humorously. Dume rolled his eyes and sighed.

"If we keep them in, they'll get cooped up and even more annoying than they are now." He said.

At this, rather grudgingly, Nuju had to agree. And after cleaning up, the toddlers were herded to the courtyard to get some fresh air.

Luckily, it seemed, the toddlers were more interested in playing with each other than driving their respective Turaga up the wall, much to their relief. Although Matoro seemed more interested in nodding off by Nuju's feet. He definitely proved he wasn't a morning person.

Apparently Matau made a good playmate for the little ones. For someone his age, he still somehow retained his energetic stamina and persona. The others didn't think a simple game of hide-and-seek could be so hectic. Or loud. (5)

Hewkii, unsurprisingly, just HAD to be dirty when he was outside. It seemed to be one of his personal rules, and he enjoyed getting others dirty as well. Onewa wouldn't be looking forward to another bath episode…

Whenua and Nokama later returned with the books they were looking for, sans anything that could explain how their Matoran ended up how they were.

"It's not like there were any 'How to deal with sudden de-aging for idiots' manuals we could find." Whenua grunted.

No one could really object to that, but they still hoped something would come up…

"Well, at least it wasn't completely hopeless…" Dume muttered, looking over the 'how to' books on taking care of children. For some reason he believed he was going to be no part of all this.

"Have we decided on who takes first shift?" Nokama asked.

The others gave each other unsure looks, confirming her suspicion that they had in fact not reached a verdict. Most likely they had been arguing on who would take first shift and ended up unable to draw out a conclusion due to their refusal to back down and become the first victim, as Matau would say.

"So…how do we figure THIS out?" Whenua asked. Matau perked up at this and grinned.

"I know! I know!" He chimed, flailing his arm around like an excited child in class. Vakama sighed.

"What Matau?" he asked.

"Easy! Hey kids~!" he called, catching their attention. The Turaga blinked; how were the kids going to help choose who would-

"Dog-pile!" he called.

'_Oh sh-'_

As if a stampede had been unleashed, six pairs of tiny feet trotted for the Turaga, zeroing in on one individual.

Vakama never saw it coming.

"Oh my-! NO!"

CRASH!

And just like that, the poor man was pinned on his back under a pile of giggling Matoran. The others would have laughed if it wasn't such a sudden, and quite odd, sight. It did however raise a question.

"How does that determine who goes first?" Onewa had to ask.

"Easy! Vakama obviously goes first, then Whenua, then me, then Nuju, then Nokama, then Onewa. Easy!" Matau chirped, pointing to each respective Matoran in turn from the bottom of the pile up.

It was actually a pretty good way to decide. Somewhat like a very weird parody of drawing straws. And Vakama just so happened to get the shortest of the bunch. Although inside, none of the other Turaga held much sympathy for the new babysitter.

"Oh screw my life…" Vakama muttered.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

_~Relatively VERY short chapter, but it gets better from here. This is more or less a turning-point chapter to clarify how things will go on from here on in. And I apologize for the lateness of this. Been REALLY busy with crap._

_1)- I have NO idea if a toddler can develop RLS (restless leg syndrome) but hey, it fits for the lil bundle of energy lol_

_2)- Face-to-egg-plate-plant. Cute~_

_3)- Growing boy = fast eater._

_4)- Let's face it. If he could, he'd put Matoro in a plastic bubble and keep him at home 24/7. XDD_

_5)- It's your favorite Uncle Matau~! 8DD_


	9. Nursemaid Vakama

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 9_

_Nursemaid Vakama._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Dear sweet god I am __**SO SORRY **__for the delay folks! I was going to update last week, but we went out on vacation in Alabama at my aunt's house. She told us she lived in the stakes, and my god, she wasn't kidding. No internet for __**TEN. FUCKING. DAYS.**__ TwT_

_Anyways! Here's your update and first baby-sitting solo victim! And again folks, I changed the Turaga's names around a bit, so Nuju doesn't go first. See explanation in chapter eight at the very bottom of the page. Enjoy!_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

No POV.

X~X~X~X~X~X

They were staring.

Just _staring_ at him!And he didn't even know why!

Only an hour ago the other Turaga had left (although Nuju had to be dragged out due to reluctance) and he was left alone with six toddlers. Six toddlers he might add, Dume was not willing to help out with, and instead decided to lock himself in his office to do god-knows-what.

And just when he thought he could get some _helpful _advice out of his fellow Turaga before they left…

~x~x~x~

"Do you all HAVE to leave me here…with THEM?" he practically whined.

"Well we don't HAVE to per se, but under the circumstances, we'd gladly leave you to your own devices with the children." Onewa announced with a bit of sarcasm. Although he was looking quite satisfied with himself, the smug bastard…

"Why do I have to be alone with them though!?"

"You won't be alone. Dume's here to help and-"

"I'll be in my office." Said mentioned Turaga promptly left before Whenua could finish.

"…Dume will be here." The dark Turaga corrected with a sheepish smile. Vakama bit his lip and looked to the others.

"Nokama…" he was practically begging now. _Begging!_

The water Turaga gave a meek shrug, "I'm sorry Vakama, but my village needs me now. Storm season is coming up, and I can't be gone for much longer." (1)

Vakama visibly sagged. He did _not _want to do this. He was already getting a terrible feeling about this, and he hadn't the slightest clue as to how to act in an emergency or anything!

Matau grinned and patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Bright-cheer up fire-spitter! It won't be so hard-bad! Just keep them happy-bright and don't let them handle any sharp-pointy things!" he sang, seemingly ignoring the way Nuju's face seemed to blanch at his words. (2)

Vakama wasn't the least bit convinced and seemed even more nervous. Onewa sighed and rolled his eyes, shoving Matau towards the door.

"Oh stow it Vakama, it's not that hard! They're _kids!_ They would get a bigger kick out of a half-assed card trick than a damn winning lottery ticket! Now shut up, man up, and if you have any problems with them, just show them something shiny or dangle this in front of their faces." He promptly shoved something into Vakama's hand.

"…a shoe string?" the orange Turaga asked, perplexed. The others fixed Onewa with very similar looks. (3)

"…what? It works on cats, why not kids? And if it doesn't work, throw a ball or something! Hewkii seems to like those. They might even get a kick out of a squeaky toy." (4)

Never…in all their years…have they ever…

Oh who the hell were they kidding? This was textbook Onewa smartass sarcasm 101 to a T. Although…it was very hard to tell if he was being sarcastic with what he was saying. He was holding a pretty straight face and not faltering the least bit.

"…well? We going or do you all want to play nursemaid?" He shot Nuju a kind of 'don't you dare' look.

"No, no, we're gone." Whenua said.

Saying a final farewell and some tid-bits of (questionable) advice, the five other Turaga departed, Dume having vanished in his office and leaving Vakama alone in the lobby to later venture up to the kids' room.

A tumbleweed could go by and Vakama would still be staring at the door, as if hoping one of the others would show a smidge of mercy and help him.

No such luck…

~x~x~x~

Vakama was not amused, and he was now outnumbered and feeling quite intimidated. By _toddlers_.

'_If I get out of this alive Matau, I swear by the spirits, I am going to murder you!' _Vakama thought sourly.

He himself was also having at the staring contest, so now it wasn't as one-sided as one might imagine. But the fact remained that Vakama was clueless as to what he was supposed to do.

He was going to be stuck with nothing but the kids for a full 24 hours, with the only form of help refusing to so much as make sure none of them stuck their hands somewhere dangerous, a head full of questionable advice, and a piece of string!

Oh and not to mention the fact that, for some god known reason, Jaller decided to start a rebellion against him.

"Jaller…" he started impatiently, standing in front of a seemingly harmless pile (fort) of pillows in the toddlers' room.

"…"

"Jaller…" he growled again.

"Grr…."

"I mean it."

"Grr."

"Jaller, I said come out now!"

"Rawr!"

"And stop growling at me! What are you? Some kind of Rahi?"

"Yes!"

Vakama had to resist cursing to himself. As frustrated as he was at the little bugger, he at least had more etiquette than Onewa and his foul mouth. He was a _gentleman, _thank you.

But he was starting to somewhat waver. The moment Jaller made his rebelliousness known, the other toddlers seemed to think it ideal to do the same. Both Hewkii and Kongu were also buried somewhere in their pile (fort!) and giggling at Vakama's frustration. The other three, Hahli, Nuparu, and Matoro, simply watched on in a slight mix of amusement and uncertainty.

Vakama was thankful that at least _half_ of the little hellions were sane…

"SHIT!"

…and NOT driving him up the wall via the power of a damn pillow fort housing three reasons why he was losing patience, sanity, and possibly a bit of his hair!

"FOCK!"

…time to use drastic measures. And soap. Lots of soap. (5)

"Jaller, Kongu, Hewkii, I mean it now. If you don't come out 'til the count of ten, you're going to be in serious trouble!" he snapped.

No response. Oh they were egging him on now…

"One…two…three…" he balled his hands into fists, gritting his teeth, "Four…five…six…I'm serious!"

A giggle and another growl.

"Seven…eight…"

"Pllllvvvvvvvvvvv!" (6)

Screw morals.

"That's it!"

The other three, who chose rather wisely to hang off a good distance away from the fort and fuming Turaga, watched in interest as the orange (7) Turaga made a dive for the fort of pillows, resulting in a collection of three different cries of surprise and agitation. This followed by a flurry of pillows being thrown everywhere, one somehow managing to lodge itself in the ceiling fan. (8)

"Jaller no-! Kongu get back here you little-GAH! *crash* NO! I said get-! *crash* Hewkii you-!"

Nuparu yawned as the chaos continued, suddenly finding the spinning pillow in the ceiling fan to be more interesting.

"Mata-nui damn it-! Will you-! Just-! GOT YOU!" and the three hellions were finally pinned. Barely.

Somehow the squabble led Vakama into a rather odd position, with the toddlers in even odder positions. Laying halfway on his side, Vakama had managed to snatched Jaller from fleeing under a table, Hewkii was trapped under his left arm, and Kongu was stuck in a vice-grip around the waist by Vakama's right leg and the floor.

It honestly looked like a Rahi-round-up gone haywire.

Vakama's brow twitched, and he was starting to lose control over his own temper. But he held fast and, with the last bit of mental strength he could muster, calmed himself and sat up, making sure both Hewkii and Jaller were secure in his arms and that Kongu was safely pinned.

"Now then…nap time." (9)

Those two words prompted three indignant cries from the colorful bunch of toddlers in his clutches.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Jaller hated naps. Naps were boring. He hated boring.

And he wasn't even tired! He wanted to go play!

But _nooo_, the big orange dummy-head says he and the others had to take a nap! That was so not fair!

Well, he was thankful he wasn't the only one that thought so. Kongu was currently being a bit of a brat about his nap, and Hewkii was latched onto the bedpost while shaking his head vigorously with a string of 'no's falling from his mouth.

However, he was not the least bit happy with how the other three were so easily being told what to do! What a bunch of _babies!_

It took Vakama only two minutes to put Hahli, Matoro, and Nuparu to bed and tuck them in. However, it took him ten minutes, five of which was spent chasing the little buggers, to so much as get Hewkii, Jaller, and Kongu _on _a bed. He was currently trying to put three wriggling toddlers under the blankets at once, all the while preventing them from running off.

"Stop moving you…! There!" Vakama felt a wave of satisfaction and victory pass over him as he eyed his handy-work.

Jaller was looking quite sour in the face. There was no way he was going to lay back and _take a nap. _He had important things to do now! There were places to see and areas to explore! And this dummy was preventing him from seeing those places with nothing but a blanket and pillows.

Well this wouldn't do at all. If he wasn't going to explore and play, he was at least going to make Vakama's job more difficult.

"There now. That wasn't so hard now was-"

Jaller kicked his blankets off down past his feet.

Vakama blinked, a bit surprised. He reached down and pushed them back over Jaller, standing back and crossing his arms.

"Now, just sleep for an hour or so and you can-"

Jaller kicked them off again.

Vakama was starting to feel a slight throbbing in his right temple. The brat was NOT doing this just to piss him off, was he?

Just to clarify, and hoping this was nothing, he pushed the blankets back up, holding them in place for a moment to be safe, before pulling back.

Jaller kicked them off. Again. This time wearing a smug expression.

He was, in fact, doing this to piss Vakama off. Fan-fricken-tastic…

"Jaller…" he growled in warning. Jaller's smug expression turned into a grin and a giggle.

He had to resist. Jaller was a child now, he didn't know any better nor did he even want to know any better. He was the mature adult here, and it certainly would do no good to up and start arguing with a _child_. He had to play this right and stay calm.

"Jaller, listen. If you don't stay still and do what you're told right now, I mean it, you're going to-"

THUNK!

"GAH!"

Vakama promptly fell back from the slug he got from a ball courtesy of Kongu. He seemed to have neglected his own rule of making sure to check the little blond demon of any weapons before bed. (10)

"Urgh…damn it…!" Vakama removed his hand from his left eye and blinked it a few times to clear his vision and hopefully relieve the pain. But doing so, he was able to see that the three toddlers had, once again, escaped…

"…I really need to remember to install a lock on that door…"

X~X~X~X~X~X

While not too far off from his colleague's dilemma, Dume was blissfully unaware of the impending danger. Instead he was aiming to get a bit buzzed off of the goods in his liquor cabinet with a good book.

He took a swig of his drink, briefly wondering how Vakama was doing at the moment.

'_Poor bastard. Oh well, not my problem at the moment.' _He thought with a shrug. That buzz he was aiming for was starting to kick in, much to his delight.

Leaning back into his comfortable desk chair, he attentively sipped at his spicy drink, letting the slight heated sting trickle down his throat. It was days like these that he looked forward to and made his otherwise solitary life in Metru-nui livable. Or…so it WAS. Before those little brats came into being.

He knew it wasn't their fault, but Dume wasn't too fond of kids. Especially kids who seemed to think it was amusing to make his life a living hell and throw things at him. Specifically his left eye. He had NO idea why they had such a fixation on his eye.

"Hmph…" seeing his glass was empty, he reached over, still leaning back with his face to the ceiling, and blindly groped for his bottle of Vodka.

However, after a good minute of not finding it, he looked up and over, and found his bottle gone. He blinked, confused. The hell?

"Blech!"

…the HELL?

Startled, Dume stood up and leaned over his desk to peek over the edge. Once he did however, he almost wished he didn't and blanched. A small equation formed in his head at the sight.

Jaller, plus two other toddlers, plus open alcoholic bottle, plus his mouth _over said bottle, _equals a possible look into a child abuse filing.

X~X~X~X~X~X

When Jaller managed to get into Dume's office, his first thoughts were on finding something to drink. He was thirsty. So the moment he saw the bottle of water on Dume's desk, he went for it.

With the help of Hewkii and Kongu acting as his living stepping stool, he managed to just barely reach the glass bottle and heave it down to the floor with him. The red dummy-head looked like he was sleeping by the way he was leaning back with his face up to the ceiling, so he didn't think much of it and decided to enjoy a nice drink before being on his way.

However, when he so much as took a lick at the edge of the bottle, he immediately drew back with a disgusted whine and grimace.

This water was yucky! It tasted like…like…yucky stuff! How can the red-dummy drink this? It was gross! And it was burning his tongue too!

And…wow, he felt weird…

"Ja? You look funny…" Hewkii said in concern.

"Wha…?" Jaller slurred, slightly swaying. This funny water was making him feel…funny. Hehe…

"Ja?" Kongu asked with a cocked head.

"Hehe…funny water!" Jaller chirped. He hiccupped and fell onto his rump with a giggle.

The other two gave each other confused looks, not realizing that the so called red-dummy was staring at them all with his jaw hanging over the desk and lying on the floor.

His brow twitched, a roll of curses and other such language just on the tip of his tongue. But instead of scarring the children any further, he decided to go with a second option…

X~X~X~X~X~X

Vakama trudged through the Coliseum with a sour expression and an even sourer attitude. If it weren't for the fact that they were toddlers now, he'd have long since treated Jaller and his duo to a double dose of head-trauma via his foot!

'_Urgh, damn those brats. Is it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet without something going wrong and leading up to someone screaming-'_

"**VAKAMA!" **

Crap. Dume found them. (11)

'_Damn it…'_ Vakama thought, racing up towards Dume's office, praying he hadn't killed the kids. Although a part of him was somewhat hoping he did…

Vakama wasn't too shocked they ended up with Dume again. For some odd reason, the kids seemed to hone in on the poor man every time they got loose.

He was, however, shocked at the condition Jaller was in when he entered the elder Turaga's office.

"What the hell?" he rasped.

"Dummy-head! Hehehe!" Jaller giggled and hiccupped before falling back onto his rump.

"Hehehe! _Fat _dummy-head! Hahahaha!" Kongu cackled.

Vakama could only stare in astonishment. Dume was busy with trying to wrestle a peculiar bottle of some sorts out of Hewkii's grip. The brunette toddler too seemed to be a bit off. Although before he could really consider what was going on, the mentioned bottle slipped from both the Turaga and toddler's grip and crashed to the floor. Although Vakama didn't miss the quite bold label on said bottle before it shattered and spilled its contents.

Curiosity and confusion quickly turned to pure outrage.

"DUME! You got them DRUNK!?" He snapped.

Dume was just now seemingly realizing that he was, in fact, not alone anymore. He looked to Vakama with wide, confused eyes before noticing the severity of the situation. He quickly snatched up Hewkii before the adventurous (and quite inebriated) brunette could touch the mess of glass on the floor.

"It wasn't MY fault! YOU were supposed to be watching them!" he snapped.

"I wasn't the one who gave them a taste of fifty-five some plus years of aged alcohol!" Vakama snapped back, just now restraining a struggling Jaller and Kongu in each arm.

"Hey! It was Fifty- _seven _years aged Vodka!"

"I don't care! Do something!"

Jaller didn't feel so good. His head was hurting now and his tummy hurt…

"Like what!?"

"I don't know! What do we do!?"

"I don't know!"

"Murph…" Jaller queasily clutched Vakama's arm, his face showing a slight tinge of green. Vakama quickly took notice to the sudden contact and looked down at the redhead in his arms.

"Jaller? What is it?" he asked, noticing the sick look on his face.

"Hurts…" Jaller whined. Vakama, forgetting entirely about Dume, set Kongu down and lifted Jaller up to eye level.

"What hurts?" he asked.

"My…ugh…tummy…ugh…!" Dume's eyes widened.

"No Vakama, no, put him-!"

"BLARGH!"

Too late.

"…down."

X~X~X~X~X~X

An few hours passed, and the three remaining, completely sober toddlers, could be found playing in the courtyard, all fully rested from their nap and rearing to go. Although they couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Jaller and his duo…

"This is all your fault…" Dume grit out, arms crossed as he leaned against the bathroom door where Vakama was _still _trying to get the stain (and smell) out of his overcoat.

"Oh really? And how, pray tell, is this all _my _fault? I never gave them their first shots of liquor _and _a hangover!" Vakama snapped.

"Argh! Shoosh!"

Vakama groaned, deciding to do as the miserable toddler said. Said toddler was currently half dangling over the toilet alongside his two partners in crime. He was honestly wondering how they hadn't fallen in head first yet…

"It's still your fault…" Dume muttered rather childishly.

Vakama decided to ignore him. Let the jerk have the last word. He was NOT getting roped into another argument. He was already dreading what the others would think when-…

Oh dear Mata-nui above…

"Nokama's never going to speak to me ever again, is she?" he asked.

"Nope…"

X~X~X~X~X~X

"They're _DRUNK!?_"

Well no accounting for being right. Although he wasn't counting on Nuju and Whenua ganging up on him as well. Matau was somehow finding the whole scenario funny (12), and Onewa was standing off to the side with his face in his hands. Although it was rather obvious he was quite amused as well.

"Well, technically no. It happened a few hours ago, so they have a hangover now." Vakama explained meekly.

"That doesn't matter! Who in their right mind gives _children _alcohol!?" Nokama snapped.

"I didn't do it on purpose! Jaller and the other two just snuck off! Blame Dume! He was the one trying to get hammered!"

"I was NOT!"

"Was TOO!"

"Was NOT!

"Was TOO!"

"Was **NOT**, slander, blasphemy, lies, BS!"

"CHILDREN! Please!" Whenua bellowed, instantly calming the two fire Turaga. Nuju rubbed his temples while Nokama sighed in agitation. Honestly, it was starting to become a bit unclear as to who the _real _children were here…

"Mata-nui above! It doesn't matter whose fault it! What matters was that it was on your heads! Now I'm actually glad Nuju dragged us out here five hours early, the shit here has clearly hit the fan!" Whenua snapped. (13)

Funny as his last statement was, no one laughed when the earth Turaga was mad. You don't mess with a six foot five man who was perfectly capable of snapping a few necks with nothing but his pinkie and a twig.

Ironically, that was how he killed their food during their Toa days when they had to camp…

"Seriously. Is it really that difficult to watch them? I bet even Matau isn't stupid enough to give children Vodka!" Nuju growled.

"Hey! I am SO stupid-dumb enough to-…"

A pause while everyone looked at him expectantly.

"…wait…that came out wrong-bad…"

"Ugh, whatever. Dume, I don't care how much stress you are under or how bad you want one, no more drinking while the kids are here!" Nokama chided.

"What!? Are you man woman!? Just keep them out of my damn office!" Dume snapped in shock.

"And Vakama! I don't care how much of a bugger Jaller is being! You're the adult here, so act like one!" Completely ignoring Dume, Nokama turned her chastising onto Vakama.

"But-"

"No buts! They are children, not a pack of Rahi you can just leave to their own devices! So the next time you take your shift, you better be ready this time. Am I clear you two?"

"But-!"

"Am I _clear?_"

"…"

"…yes ma'am."

"Good." (14)

That being said, Nokama turned on her heel to go check up on the hangover-induced toddlers. The other three were perfectly fine and enjoying seeing their respective Turaga again, aside from Kongu and Hewkii.

Vakama still blamed Dume after the whole thing and went home smelling like baby-vomit. Dume blamed Vakama. The kids thought they were silly. The hangover rugrats thought that life was a big dummy…

And Nokama dumped all of Dume's best drinks down the drain. Dume suffered depression.

And it was all good.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_~ Haaaaah…okay, I am not too happy with this chapter. Mostly with the middle parts and such, but I am satisfied with the beginning and such. But other than that, I hope to do a bit better than this._

_Also! I apologize for the lateness again! I am still going through internet withdrawal, so snappy comments on my lateness is NOT advised, thank you. So yeah…_

_Oh well, you get an update, more to come soon! I promise!_

_1)- Monsoon season. What an excuse. XD_

_2)- Kids, do NOT run with scissors! I mean it! DX_

_3)- ...what? Were you expecting something obvious? Like maybe a rattle? COME ON! I am Mazu-F***ING-la here! And this is Onewa here! World's greatest sarcastic-ass only next to Charlie Sheen! Geez..._

_4)- Onewa is giving advice on entertaining kids. God help us..._

_5)- Kongu might think it was candy and probably enjoy it. Soap these days are starting to smell pretty darn tasty now..._

_6)- Raspberries. You can probably figure that out, but if not, there you go._

_7)- I only just a while ago just realized, after re-watching Mask of Light, that Vakama is in fact, orange, not red. Go me. XD_

_8)- True even. When I was little and at a slumber-party, we had a pillow fight that somehow ended up with my pillow getting caught in the ceiling fan. Which was shocking because the living room was a good second floor up and I was maybe around four feet tall._

_9)- HOMFG! He said the 'N' word! RUN! D8_

_10)- Let the record show that it is, in fact, a stated rule that you must check every and all places Kongu may have stashed any weapons or items to avoid further injury to the eyes, face, back, neck, butt, spleen, liver, spine, kidney, brain, and other such places. _

_11)- ATTENTION! Dume has found the kids! Repeat! DUME has found THE KIDS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! D8_

_12)- I just now seemed to realize, that in almost every single chapter after chapter two, Matau is laughing hysterically at something. Go figure. XD_

_13)- I love that phrase. Shit hit the fan. Shit hit the fan. Shit-ith hath hit-ish the fan-ish. Naf eht tih tihs. El sheeto heet ze fano. Tee-hee!_

_14)- NEVER mess with mama-Nokama! XD_


	10. Nursemaid Whenua

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 10_

_Nursemaid Whenua._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Jesus, where the hell have I been?...oh yeah. Dealing with the bitch we all know as LIFE!...meh, enough of my complaining, I got it done, sue me._

_Oh, and I apologize for my…erm…language in my previous chapter. When I write chapters with that kind of action in it, I get a bit swear-y cause…well…it keeps me in the mood *SHOT* but then I go back and fix out those things when I'm done. Apparently I forgot that step. *SHOT x2*_

_Anywho, on with the fic!_

_Here's Whenua~!_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

NO POV.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Sometimes, Whenua really wished he was still an archivist.

No, not a Toa, not a Turaga, not really just a Matoran, but a damn _archivist._ His reasons vary depending on the situation where he wishes to still have his oldest job curriculum, but the emotions are almost always the same at least.

He would trade his current position for anything right now.

He would even take a full day of cataloguing instead of this!

…

…but no. He gets to play nanny for a group of hellions in six toddler bodies. It wasn't fair…

'_Since when was life ever fair?'_ a little voice in his head said. He couldn't really argue though. The phrase of a once Toa becoming a Turaga marking the days to an easy retirement seemed like a load of sugar coated blasphemy!

Well, he supposed he was somewhat faring well. Half the toddlers were sane and pretty manageable, and the other half was still recovering from a first time hang over.

Whenua made it his personal mission to make sure they didn't go within twenty feet of Dume, or his office…

And honestly, now that he thought about it, he probably had it moderately easy now. Matau was actually smart enough to bring over some old toys, games, and coloring and drawing supplies when they came over to rotate shifts, so they were all occupied with their own activities.

Although as appreciative as they were now that the kids had a fair amount of distractions, they couldn't help but wonder just WHY Matau had so many toys and children's attire. His response was somewhere along the lines of, 'I get bored easily'. They didn't ask any further questions…(1)

Nokama also managed to break in a few new outfits for the toddlers. Nuju seemed insistent on making sure at least Matoro had a change of clothes for every day of the week. He was such a mother hen…erm, rooster…cuckoo bird? Yeah that sounds about right. (2)

That thought was enough to make Whenua crack a small smile. The mental image seemed to brighten his mood, and seemed to make watching as the toddlers played with a few toys more enjoyable. It was actually pretty cute really.

Hahli and Matoro seemed to have a fixation on stuffed Rahi. And both had their preferred favorites as a constant companion. Hahli's octopus, or as she called it, 'Octupauly', could be seen constantly being dragged or carried around by the little Ga-Matoran. (3) Currently she was playing dress-up with it with some spare clothing.

Matoro's stuffed friend was, oddly, the same old stuffed penguin he had at his old home. Nuju apparently brought it along for him to see if he still took a fancy to it. To say the least, Matoro was quite enthusiastic to see his old plush friend. (4)

And although still a bit under the weather, Jaller, Kongu, and Hewkii all took pleasure in their new toys. Their mood immensely lifted when they discovered the Toa action figures in the pile. Currently all three were making a show of fighting off an evil stuffed Husi(5) wearing a top hat. It was quite a sight honestly.

However, Nuparu was certainly one that was intriguing…

Instead of playing with the toys, he chose to gather as many of them as his little arms could carry and take them apart. Kongu was quite upset to find his monkey toy losing its tail to the hands of the curious Onu-Matoran. But what he made up for in taking things apart, was putting things back together.

It seemed his inventive skills were brought out, even for a second time, from childhood.

However…

This also meant that he was capable of taking other things apart. And after setting boundaries of what he could and could not take apart, he found other such things that he was perfectly capable of getting his little hands on.

Case in point, the not-so-working TV he was currently wedged behind.

"Nuparu! I am not telling you again! Get out of there before you get hurt!" Again, Whenua's words were ignored as the little jibblit (6) continued to giggle and mess with wires and components.

Whenua hoped for the life of himself that the TV wasn't plugged in…

But seeing as his efforts were futile, and his own large hands couldn't squeeze into the crevice Nuparu managed to worm into, he decided to check on the other toddlers. If it was one thing he learned, it was to never turn you back on them. _Ever._

He looked over the other toddlers with satisfaction. Jaller and Hewkii were playing happily with their action figures and rough housing with a few pillows. Kongu took to the glue and feathers from the art supplies Matau brought over, ignoring the paper altogether to glue feathers all over himself while making bird noises (Whenua made a mental note to bathe him later). Hahli was busy dressing up her Octopauly and feeding it a plastic cake. And Matoro was…

…sitting in the corner all by himself with his penguin.

Whenua blinked. What happened? Did one of the kids maybe scare him off to play by himself? He was a good distance away from the others and merely drawing on a piece of paper with his penguin beside him.

The earth Turaga made his way through the sea of toddlers and to the second smallest (7) of the bunch sitting by his penguin. Which was a bit silly to look at honestly, as the penguin was about half his height.

"What's wrong Matoro? Why are you sitting over here all by yourself?" He asked, kneeling down to the bright eyed Matoran.

Matoro in turn looked up at Whenua and stared. Just _stared_ with wide eyes and a slightly startled expression. A moment passed before Whenua spoke again.

"What?" he asked in confusion to his expression.

Matoro responded by clutching his penguin plush and making a small whimpering noise, his eyes flickering to the floor.

Whenua frowned. Was something wrong with him? Was he maybe hurt or felt sick? Mata-nui, if he was getting sick on Whenua's watch, Nuju would have his head. And actually mean it!

His frown seemed to intimidate Matoro, as the Matoran swiftly grabbed his penguin and threw it in front of his face, hiding himself from Whenua with a small whining noise. (8)

Whenua blinked. Was it something he said?

"…okay then."

_BZZZZRP!_

" WHAT THE-!?"

"AAAAAHHH!"

The lights flickered briefly, the toddlers scrambling and shrieking in fright from the sudden noise. Whenua himself was recovering from a near heart-attack inducing scare, now on his knees after instinctively grabbing Matoro and holding him tightly to his chest for protection from what his brain registered as some kind of danger. The electric noise followed by a started 'whoa' and a thud. And just as the lights turned back on, Whenua managed to register a few things as he loosened his grip on the shy Matoran.

One, the once thought to be broken TV was working, playing out some sort of bad comedian show. Two, there was a smoke trail and black scorches forming a ring around it. Three, the toddlers were all coming out of hiding. And four, Nuparu was upside down on the couch, his hair going in all directions with smoke and sparks jumping off of him.

The Onu-Matoran blinked a few times, as if in a daze, before giving a full watt grin and clapping his hands.

"Do again!" he cried.

Whenua released the breath he didn't even know he was holding in relief. Well, it seemed not only his inventive skills not only grew from childhood, but also his habit of messing inventions up and managing to survive said mess ups with a grin. (9)

'_Well at least we have a working TV now…'_ he thought, half with concern for Nuparu and the others, and half impressed that despite nearly getting electrocuted, he fixed a TV that not even Dume could figure out. Although he wasn't very tech savvy to begin with…

"Mrph…"

Whenua snapped out of his Dume-loathing trance, seemingly realizing he still had an armful of Ko-Matoran toddler in his arms, all of whom he seemed to be crushing slightly.

"Ah, sorry little guy…" he said, grasping Matoro under his arms and holding him at arm's length.

To say the little Ko-Matoran looked a bit intimidated would be an understatement. At this, Whenua couldn't help but feel a little dejected. He and Matoro had actually gotten along rather well when he was older. The unusual Ko-Matoran had a very curious fascination with history, and Whenua was more than delighted to take some time off to steal the Matoran from Nuju to, as Nuju has many a times said, 'convert' him. Matoro was a sweet boy, and as unusual as he was, pretty much all of the Onu-Matoran loved him like an adopted brother. He was relatively the only Ko-Matoran the Onu-Matoran could have a conversation with that wouldn't turn into an argument. (10)

"Um…" Whenua looked back at the Matoran, seemingly remembering he was still holding him. Matoro fidgeted and pointed to the floor meekly.

"Down…?" he said shyly.

With a sigh, Whenua nonetheless obliged and gently set the meek Matoran down, deciding it would be best to look over Nuparu to see if he was, in fact, not dying.

"Matty!" Speaking of which…

Said mentioned Onu-Matoran promptly ran over to and pretty much, as Matau would say, 'glomped' Matoro to the ground with a giggle. Matoro looked like he had suddenly been hit by a car. Odd considering Nuparu was the smallest of the bunch. Ironic, as he also seemed to be the strongest physically. Whenua was reminded of a tiny cartoon mouse that somehow was able to pick up everyday household items to beat up a cat… (11)

Seeing as the Matoran seemed okay, aside from a rather comically bad hairdo, the Turaga decided it was safe to take a break and make lunch. Nodding to himself, he looked back to the TV. Mata-nui he hated this show…

"Damn comedians…" he muttered. He changed he channel to some cartoons to hopefully keep the kids occupied before leaving for the kitchen, locking the door as he did so.

And with the sounds of silly noises and funny characters, the kids were instantly hooked onto the big box of colorful moving things. They made a mental note to figure out a new name for their new square friend, cause that name was too long.

A particular scene of a cartoonish air Toa vine swinging into a tree really got their attention.

However, Nuparu wasn't too interested in the TV. He wanted to find something else to mess with. Maybe he could get something to go boom-boom-zap again!

Nuparu sat down on his little rump and looked around. What to tinker, what to tinker…

Turning to his right, he caught sight of the pile of toys now being ignored in favor of the TV. One particular toy really caught his interest.

Nuparu got up and toddled over to the metallic looking bone-shaped item and picked it up. It was heavy, but not a problem for his unusual strength. One end was blunt, but the other had a circle shape with a square cut on the end, making it into a kind of blocky crescent moon. It was shiny! He could see himself in it! He _had _to investigate it! It was a practically a law! (12)

He had long since plunked himself in front of the shiny heavy metal stick thing (he made a mental note to give it a better, not-so-long name) and stared at it. A good taker-apart-er always stares at something before doing anything. Another mental note was made to think of a better name for himself… (13)

Back with the other toddlers, said toddlers were completely oblivious to Nuparu's discovery. Instead they were fixated on their new best friend; who happened to be a big box with moving pictures. They still had yet to figure out a good name for it. Kongu suggested Steve, but it sounded too weird. Funny, but weird. (14)

"Oooohhh…" They awed at the action and bright colors of the program.

Said program was staring some cartoon Toa on a mission to find the mask of friendship! But standing between him and the mask was the evil Makuta of meanness! (15) It was so exciting! Well, it was to everyone besides Matoro. He decided to take a nap during the awesome battle of the Toa and Makuta! So _exciting!_

The Toa was just about to proclaim his victory and the mask, but then-

_Bzzzt!_

Steve turned off. (16)

"EH?" was the collective expression of shock from the (minus Matoro) kids.

A long pause ensured. Still unsure as to what had happened, or if maybe Steve would turn back on or not, the toddlers looked to each other for answers. And toddlers being toddlers, they were clueless. Kongu suddenly let loose a rather annoying whine and pointed to the TV in distress.

"Steve is sick! Wah!" He whined.

They all looked back at each other. Steve was sick? It made sense. When you feel sick, you rest and go to sleep.

Their attention was caught by Nuparu lifting his new toy up and thunking it against the floor with a loud 'fwump' and a giggle. That's right! Nuparu could fix things! He was like a uh…uh…a doctor! But for things and not people! Yeah!

"Nupu!" Jaller called. Nuparu looked up at his expectantly, "Come here!" And like a true leader, Jaller gave his command and pointed beside himself.

Although not sure why he was being called over, Nuparu nonetheless obliged, dragging his heavy new toy with him. He plunked down in front of Jaller and waited to be told why he was needed.

"Steve sick! You fix!" Jaller huffed, pointing to the TV and to Nuparu in turn. Nuparu blinked in confusion.

"Steve?" he asked. Jaller pointed to the TV with puffed cheeks.

"Yes! Fix Steve! Makuta meanie's gonna win!" He huffed.

Again, Nuparu has _no idea _what Jaller is talking about, but whatever the kid wanted he supposed. And if he wanted him to fix Steve, then fine, he'll fix Steve.

On one condition…

"Matty's gotta kiss me!" he jeered. (17)

That raised a few brows. Said mentioned Matoran was still blissfully unaware of the surrounding noise and quite happily dozing on his penguin.

"Um…okay?" Jaller said, unsure. Nuparu, however, beamed and happily marched over to the TV to fix it. Or…something. He honestly wasn't sure what to do. He just wanted to take stuff apart.

So he set to work squeezing back into the back of the TV, toy in hand, and got to work. One thing that got his attention was the long rope thing dangling behind it, and the end of it, which he at first thought was a snake head, was lying on the floor. That was weird. Wasn't its head in the wall in that plastic thing with the holes? Did it fall out? (18)

"Hmm…" he hummed. He picked up the snake's head. He had long since learned it was friendly, if a bit lazy. But that's okay. He'd be sleepy too if he was doing nothing but sticking his head in a wall. This thought triggered a small memory from not too long ago, and he puffed out his cheeks…

He pushed the thought aside though. If he fixed Steve, he could get a kiss from Matoro! He was so excited!

Grinning from ear to ear, Nuparu decided, eh, what the heck? He stuck the snake's head back into the wall. Nothing happened.

"What taking so long!?" he heard Jaller snap.

"Um…just a sec!" Nuparu called back, perplexed.

Now a bit frazzled and flustered, Nuparu looked at the back of Steve. A bunch of other wires, some buttons, and what looked like some kind of hole filled with other wires and such. Looking down at his hand, Nuparu held up his toy. Maybe it could help?

With the vigor and IQ smarts of a toddler (which isn't much) Nuparu did the one thing his head told him to do.

He shoved one end of his toy into the hole and started twisting and yanking.

Whenua decided to pick now to come back in…

"Alright kids, lunch is-"

_**BZZZZRP!**_

"HOLY SH-!?"

It went dark, and the two precariously balanced trays of food that were sitting shakily on Whenua's arms went flying. This followed by a collection of frighten screams and scrambling feet. But, the problem with running in the dark, is that you can't really see anything. That being said, many things could be heard being either knocked over or broken, while grunts of impact rang in the air as well. Whenua now decided to join in the chaotic fray, trying to both locate and keep himself from tripping over the kids.

He didn't, however, count on the kids' lunch to come plummeting down onto his head.

CRASH!

"GAH!" Then he slipped in it and landed rather harshly on his back. The loud thud frazzled the kids even more, and the screaming and panicking increased, coupled with what little words he could make out saying 'evil meanie' or 'Makuta of meanness' or 'Toa of friendship, help!'

He was too confused and disoriented to really figure out just what they were talking about. A small part of his brain that wasn't throbbing in agony was silently thankful Dume wasn't here to make it worse…

Oh but irony is such a bitch…

SLAM!

"What the HELL is going on NOW!?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H!"

"Makuta meanie!"

"RUN!"

Well _that _seemed to draw Whenua out of his stupor on the floor. That, and coupled with the blinding light coming from Dume's lightstone seemed to shock him out of it as well. And somewhere in his mac-and-cheese covered head, he registered the power was out.

"Whenua! What are you doing!? And what the hell is wrong with these brats!?" he paused a minute and looked Whenua over, "Better yet, what the bloody hell are you covered in?"

Whenua resisted the urge to slap his forehead and possibly say something foul. Hysterical or not, they were still kids, and very impressionable.

Speaking of the kids, they all seemed to find it a good idea to cram under the couch in fear of what they called 'the Makuta of meanness', whatever that meant.

"If you must know, I _was _making lunch. Now I'm sitting here, wondering just what happened, why you're yelling, why my life is going through Karzahni and back, and all possibly with a concussion, thank you _so _much for your concern." He groused out.

Dume fixed him with an unimpressed look before scoffing and crossing his arms.

"Well obviously the powers out and you're being a drama queen. And if I had to guess, this is their fault." Dume pointed to the line of toddler rumps sticking out from under the couch.

"Hehehehe…!

Whenua frowned, stood up, brushed as much of the food off of himself as he could, and looked around. His well-adapted eyes easily adjusted to the dark around him, and in no time, he managed to locate a certain little rascal poking out from behind the TV.

And at the sight of him, he couldn't help but sigh. Of course, who else would cause this much trouble?

"Nuparu…" he groaned out.

Said mentioned toddler peeked out from his place behind the TV, eyes adjusting to the dark. He grinned and waved at Whenua, his hand holding onto something he couldn't quite make out.

Dume grew impatient and groaned, marching over to the closed windows.

"Honestly, I don't know WHY I put up with this…" he muttered. He pulled the blinds up, and instantly the entire room was flooded with the evening light.

Whenua flinched back at the sudden brightness, Nuparu doing the same. But in the light now, he could finally make out just what Nuparu was holding.

And after making sure he was alright after being electrocuted for the second time of the day, and getting an explanation on where he got his new 'toy', Whenua was about ready to call it a day.

Once the kids were ushered out and reassured that they were not being attacked, they were fed and put outside to play for the rest of the day while he and Dume tried to figure out the electrical problems.

An hour or so later, the other Turaga had arrived. Or in other words, the fireworks went off…

"How could you be so _stupid _as to mix up a damn _wrench _in the toys!?" Whenua snapped at Matau. (20)

Said air Turaga was looking rather meek, but otherwise amused with himself. The others, however, were shocked that yet another disaster had unfolded in their absence. Even more so that it was _Whenua _of all people caught in it. Both Nokama and Nuju were getting on his case about the kids possibly getting hurt or electrocuted. Nuju wasn't going to let him hear the end of it, despite the fact that Matoro had been _asleep_ the entire time! (21)

"Ugh, alright! Enough already!" Vakama snapped, getting everyone's attention. He was quite sick of all of the yelling and arguing about now.

"Alright. We all know this was a serious muck up, but we're past that now, so maybe we can just move on and get back to yelling at each other at a later time?" he said.

A quiet pause ensured before everyone begrudgingly nodded and dropped their arguments.

"Good. Now that that's done, who's next in babysitting?"

"Me!" Matau waved. (22)

If it was possible, Nuju's already pale face seemed to drain of all spectrum color; he might as well have been transparent.

"Like HELL you are!" The ice Turaga snapped.

"Oh come off it icy! You're next after him anyways, keep your snow-shoes on." Onewa scoffed. Nuju fixed him with a very murderous look.

"I am _not _leaving Mator-I mean, the kids in the hands of a man that glues his own face onto Fun-Guy calendars!"

"HEY! I do not!"

"Shut up! I'll take the third shift, I don't care if I have to pull double! I am _not _allowing that _thing _anywhere near him!"

"You mean Matoro?"

"Yes. Wait, I mean, no!"

"Oh relax-chill frosty!" Matau threw an arm around Nuju's shoulders with a grin, "And stop fuss-worrying! I'll keep an eye on the snow-rabbit. And don't fret, I'll even make sure to take pictures for that little album of yours!"

Nuju's face flushed a few dozen shades of red while the others gave him perplexed looks. (23) But instead of digging himself any further into his grave, he promptly planted his heavy booted foot on Matau's toes and marched a few feet off.

"…alright then. Can we please move on here? I think I got cheese in my ears." Whenua grunted.

"Yes, yes Whenua. Matau, you're next, but for the love of all that is good in this world, _please_, please make an effort not to cause something disastrous. I've had just about enough for the remainder of this year." Vakama said.

The lights around the Coliseum suddenly flickered back on, Dume stepping out with a rather agitated look on his face.

"And if I see that these little monsters have damaged my Coliseum for a second time, I'll have your head _and _your ass!" he snapped at Matau.

"Azz!" Kongu cheered, as if to remind the Turaga that he and the other kids were just down at their feet.

Dume sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was getting a migraine, and the lack of alcohol was taking its toll on him. Now the thought of Matau and the kids all under one roof with him still in it was making him wish he were still comatose in a pod.

"Well, whatever, everyone, just get done what you need done and leave." He grunted.

Everyone nodded, although Nuju had to be pretty much dragged away as they left Matau with the crowd of kids and a crabby Dume.

"Whatever. See you kids…" Whenua grunted, finally relieved to be rid of the kids. Although he was prematurely stopped from his escape.

"Whena!" A tiny voice called.

The earth Turaga turned and looked down, seeing Matoro trotting up to him, his penguin dragging behind him. The little Matoran stopped in front of him and stared at his feet for a while, fidgeting with his penguin with shy eyes.

Whenua's resolve visibly softened and he turned fully to the tiny bundle and sighed.

"What is it?" he asked.

A small pause and a bit of muttering under Matoro's breath. A small tinge of red crossed over his small cheeks before he really did anything. In a swift motion, he ran up to Whenua, hugged his legs, turned, grabbed his penguin, and fled to hide behind the other kids. (24)

Very confused at first, but then suddenly touched by the childish gesture, Whenua felt his mood greatly lighten. A bit of smugness also worked its way in; he could practically feel the jealous, overprotective glare burning into his back thanks to a certain ice Turaga's gaze. (25)

He smiled over at the shyly hiding Matoran and finally turned to leave with the others, throwing a smug smirk Nuju's way.

Although as they were leaving, Nuparu seemed to remember something…

"…oh! Matty!" He called, jogging over to the ice Matoran that was waving after his 'papa'.

"Huh?"

And before anyone could say 'sassafras', Nuparu's lips landed on his cheek with a sloppy 'chu'. (26)

For his part, Nuju got the shock of his life, and the other Turaga faced their biggest mission of their lives. Said mission was practically hog-tying Nuju up to prevent the parentally-overbearing Turaga from running over to 'rescue' his little Matoran from, yet another, potential rival.

Matoro was just confused, and Matau got the laugh of his life, and a good picture.

Nuparu was happy he got his reward, and that Whenua seemed to forget about the wrench he still had his hands on.

Matau was going to experience hell.

And Dume was starting to contemplate whether or not jumping off of the Coliseum would be enough to kill him or not.

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_XDD and you get a new update with some seriously weird turns of events. Enjoy!_

_1)- Makes you wonder though doesn't it? XDD _

_2)- I'm pretty sure I spelled cuckoo bird wrong. But I was too lazy to look it up. TwT __**(FIXED!)**_

_3)- Plush toys; possibly one of the most favored toys among kids. lol Octopauly came from...I don't know. I just made it up._

_4)- If any of you have read my other Bionicle fics, you should be familiar with this penguin lol_

_5)- Husi – a large, ostrich like Rahi. Corrected by reviewer._

_6)- LOL not exactly a real word, but I like saying jibblit. I call my cats jibblits, kids jibblits, parents jibblits, jibblits jibblits jibblits. XDD It's a silly word!_

_7)- Matoro is second smallest next to Nuparu, who is the smallest of the kids. I think it's cute and ironic considering he's also the strongest physically XD_

_8)- Aawww he's scared of the big loud Turaga! lol_

_9)- Let the record show that Nuparu is, in fact, as killable as a zombie. He's got the endurance of a bull and the ability to never get hurt like a cartoon character._

_10)- Profile dictates that he is, in fact, liked by many Onu-Matoran. I only added the extra bit about history and such to spice it up. lol_

_11)- You get a cookie if you can get the reference!_

_12)- To those of you who were the unhealthily curious type as kids, you know this law. XD_

_13)- The hell is up with all these name debates!?_

_14)- Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Steve the TV._

_15)- I made this program up, I swear. I got so many flashbacks of those baby movies from daycare, it's not even funny. Oxo'_

_16)- STEVE HAS TURNED OFF! OH MY GOD! CALL A MEDIC! D8_

_17)- Isn't it adorable how some little kids just seem to fall in love with another with all of that innocent childishness? XD_

_18)- Snake head = electrical cord head. Hole in the wall with more holes = outlet. Just to let you know. lol_

_19)- Everybody RUN! It's the evil Makuta me-oh it's just Dume...wait...that's even worse! RUN! _

_20)- Oh Matau..._

_21)- I have no doubt someone could sleep through that. I once slept through a party my big brother threw and woke up with guys passed out in the living room._

_22)- Oh hell..._

_23)- We all know he keeps a secret album of Baby!Matoro under his bed. He cannot deny it!_

_24)- Yay! Matoro has conquered his fear of Whenua!_

_25)- RIVAL! RIVAL! DX_

_26)- Chu~!_


	11. Nursemaid Matau

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 11_

_Nursemaid Matau._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ It's here people. The chapter you've all been waiting for. Matau's turn to babysit. God almighty, what could go wrong? Just Matau alone…in a large, old as dirt building…with six kids…with no supervision…for twenty four hours…_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

…

_MAMA, WE ALL GONNA GO TO HELL! 8DD_

_That's all there is to it. Bring lots of water and a blunt object to fend off the minions of Hades!_

NO POV.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Matau learned something today…

Well…a lot of things actually. But there was one that stood out the most at the moment. And in all honesty, he was starting to run out of reasons to laugh off the inevitable tongue-lashing he was to receive not even in ten minutes… (1)

He looked around the ruins of what was once the kids' playroom. He turned his attention to the ceiling now, or what was left of it, as he stared up into the next floor up. A few crumbles of debris fell from the unstable holes and gaps.

He was so ingrained in his own astonishment, he didn't even notice a couple of birds flying in through the hole where the wall and window used to be. (2)

Off behind him, the toddlers were just a bit confused by the sudden change in scenery. Jaller was especially agitated. He didn't like change! He wanted his wall and ceiling back! (3)

So all of this now placed on the table, and only a few minutes remaining before the Turaga came by to switch shifts, and possibly Dume if he decided to come back…

But anyways, back to that lesson…

He learned something today, and it was somewhere along these lines…

He was utterly, and royally, _screwed_.

And to think, it all started out so innocently this morning…

x~x~x~x

"Finally! Now that mister icy-stiff is _finally _gone, you all get to have some fun with your favorite-loved uncle Matau!" Said mentioned Turaga sang after a thoroughly drawn out (and rather brutal) battle with a certain, overprotective ice Turaga concerning his little Matoran's wellbeing.

'_Really! He acts as if I'm going to eat him!' _Matau thought. Although he had to admit Matoro was, in fact, cute enough to eat. (4)

But back to all seriousness (as serious as Matau can be, anyways), Matau was actually quite eager to get started with his shift. See, unlike his snooty colleagues, he enjoyed a good day off from his duties, even if it meant spending it with a bunch of kids. Because, let's face it, Matau was practically still a kid himself. Just a really, really big kid…a really, really, big, and really old kid.

Matau pouted at the notion of being old. He was not old, damn it! He was…well aged. Like a fine wine. (5)

'_That's it! Well aged!' _his mental scrutinizing now settled, he set his attention upon the expectant toddlers before him. All of which were looking up at the weird green person with expectant looks on their round faces, as if expecting him to do something.

"So kids! What do you wanna do?" he started.

The kids all looked at each other silently, as if mentally conversing. Quite frankly, it made Matau a bit uncomfortable.

But now that he was looking at them all, he seemed to notice something a bit…off.

Red, black, white, blue, and brown. Ta-Matoran, Onu-Matoran, Ko-Matoran, Ga-Matoran, and Po-Matoran. Five in all. That didn't sound right. Weren't there six of them? Who was he missing?

"Wind-fwy! Whee!"

"Hm? Kong-AH!" Matau didn't bother finishing his inquiry, not when he could see his missing Le-Matoran standing atop the _open window sill_ with his arms spread and flapping like a chicken.

Now see, Matau wasn't exactly the most alert or cautious of the Turaga. If anything, he was a bit too laid back for his own good at times. Now, however, seeing the little hellion crouched down slightly and making the motion to jump became one of those rare occasions where he wasn't just going to stand there and let the little bugger plummet to his death!

"Kongu NO!"

"Whee!"

The other kids were a bit unsure of their current babysitter now. He was silly, and seemed fun at first, but now he was just weird…

I mean, who in their right mind would just jump over to a random window, screaming at it all the while, and simply lay there dangling out of it? It was weird and made no sense to them. Was it some kind of adult game? Cause if it was, it didn't look very fun. If anything, it looked painful…

Matau released the breath he had been holding during the split moment of launching himself through the window and catching his charge by the pants. It didn't take long for his relief to usher into the pain he was feeling in his middle. Because, let's face it, lying halfway out of a window isn't exactly the most comfortable of predicaments.

Kongu, however, was more or less disappointed his mission of flight was interrupted by the funny green dummy-head. He wanted to fly darn it! He wanted to be like Air Toa Petepan! Like in Steve! (6)

But _nooooo!_ He gets caught, literally, hauled back in, set on the ground, and his window locked. Stupid big green dummy person!

"Okay…now that I have saved your little tukis-rump from death when I wasn't even here for more than five minutes, perhaps we should do something less bad-dangerous?" Matau suggested meekly.

The kids didn't really seem to understand what he was saying, tree-speak concept aside. But whatever the weirdo wanted, they supposed…

One by one, the kids broke off from each other to go do whatever it is they wanted to do. Play with toys, watch Steve, mess with the arts and crafts stuff, or in Matoro's case, take another nap.

What was it with that Matoran and naps…? (7)

'_Oh whatever. This is lame-boring!' _he thought.

And with a pout, Matau plunks himself down onto the couch with crossed arms. This was so stupid. This wasn't hard or exciting at all! Was this what the others were complaining about? Ridiculous!

Well…as long as he was here, he might as well do SOMETHING. It was a good few hours until lunch, and let's face it, he was bored. Just what the others were complaining about, he would never know. He was almost tempted to give the kids a few spoonfuls of sugar just to one-up the others. But that would be irresponsible. And Matau was anything but irresponsible!

…well, he thought so anyways.

"Wonder what Dume is up to…?" he wondered aloud.

And like the mature, responsible, and sensible man he was, he left the toddlers all alone. BUT he made sure to lock the door! Because, you know, three foot toddlers are perfectly capable of using a ridiculously high knob.

The kids seemed to pay no attention to their ditching babysitter, instead choosing to continue doing whatever it is they were doing. Today seemed to be one of those slow days for them. And it was boring…

Kong _loathed _boring…

So he was going to make his stay un-boring!

…he just had to figure out how first.

While the other kids were off having a quiet play-date with their toys and each other, Kongu scanned the room with his mischievous lime-green eyes. So far, nothing was really in the room. Which meant one thing.

He had to get _out _of the room.

But how?

'_What would Toa Petepan do?' _he thought.

Easy! He'd whip up his awesome Wind Powers of Friendship! Then knock the door with the Kick of Caring! And then, he'd use his epic Mask of Friendship to defeat the evilness that was the door! YAY! (8)

…but he didn't have those kinds of powers, so he'd have to figure something else out.

So what could he use to get out of this baby-room full of…well…babies?

"Kongu! Lookie!" Hewkii called.

The mentioned Matoran looked over to where his partner in crime was pointing. His face nearly split in half from the grin he suddenly grew out of nowhere.

It was tall. It was green. It looked fun. It was _shiny! _All of the qualifications Kongu needed. He had to touch it, darn it!

The green dummy left his stick behind! His lime yellow-green eyes settled on that weird stick Matau was always carrying around propped up against the couch. It was all mostly dark green with a big spikey disk on top. It was shiny and had a bunch of other weird doodads along the top! Maybe it was some kind of new toy? (9)

Kongu toddled over to the spikey thingy and stared up at it. It was around four and a half feet tall, much taller than himself, but it still looked very interesting to the curious Le-Matoran. Although a small part of him was wondering if he would get in trouble for touching Matau's toy…

He looked back at the other toddlers. Everyone was watching the weird box thingy, playing, or if you were Matoro, nodding off on his penguin. He looked back to the big tall toy.

Oh well. It'll be alright! Nokama said that it was good to share after all. And if Matau got mad, he'd apologize and say he didn't know. Which was sort of half true, but he was too curious to really care!

He grabbed the rod of the staff, tugging ever so gently to test its weight. It was a bit heavy, but not too heavy for the little Matoran.

"Haha! Whoa!" he twisted on his feet as the staff began to tilt in his hold. It was rather top-heavy, but he managed to balance himself out.

Kongu looked up and down the tall toy, his mind trying to figure out just what it was and what it was meant to do.

…yep! Just as he thought! He had no idea what this toy was!

Feeling the sudden urge to swing it around for no real reason, Kongu tilted the stick forwards with a giggle, Hewkii watching in amusement as it tipped and tipped…

It tipped a little too far over.

And landed not even a few inches away from Matoro's head with a sharp, wood-on-metal cutting noise. And still, the oblivious toddler remained asleep.

However, there was a nice lock of his hair on the other side of where the saw-blade of the staff lodged itself into the floor…

"…oops." Kongu said meekly.

Nuparu seemed to be the one to notice the sudden noise, and also the hair missing from his friend's head. And being the ever loyal friend he was, as well as possibly having no idea of a haircut being painless, he puffed his cheeks in anger. (10)

"You hurt matty!" He yelled, running over and tackling Kongu to the floor and starting a scuffle.

"Hey!" Hewkii eventually joined in to stop Nuparu.

The brunette toddler received a nice whack to the head, giving a startled cry, to which Jaller responded by getting angry and leaping into the pile of wrestling toddlers. Hahli chose to try and break it up, to no avail, as none of the boys seemed keen on listening to her meek pleads. Seeing this, Hahli began to cry, and only started bawling when a misplaced kick from Kongu hit her knee.

Matoro, meanwhile, was _finally _waking up from his nap. His hand reached out and unknowingly pushed a switch on the top of the staff as he used it to push himself up. He sat up tiredly as the staff began vibrating to life, rubbing his eyes.

Now more awake, but still drowsy, he looked to the racket that woke him up in the first place. Oh, the others were fighting. And Hahli was crying! What had happened? And how did he sleep through something like this _again?_

Vrrrrr…

"Hm?" he looked back at the staff that he now just seemed to realize was there and blinked as it made noises.

The round blade imbedded in the floor began to jerk and whir, before finally starting to rotate at a slow, steady pace. After a moment, it picked up to being nothing but a blur. And with nothing holding or controlling it, it began to saw its way forwards towards the wall…

He watched, completely ignoring the fighting toddlers as he followed the very odd occurrence before him.

Up the wall the saw went. It cut through a wall clock as it moved in a vertical direction for the ceiling. It slanted slightly on the way up, cutting a slanted line as it cut past the meet between the ceiling and the wall, and began its trek across the ceiling…

This was, honestly, a very weird thing for a toddler to watch. He wondered if he was dreaming. Yeah, he had to be dreaming. Although why he's dreaming of a saw, he'd never know.

Crack!

"Owie!" Okay, maybe this wasn't a dream. As far as he knew, dreams didn't involve a chunk of ceiling falling very _hurtfully _on your head courtesy of the saw now making its way across the ceiling.

Tears began to water up in his eyes from the pain in his little head. But he held it in; good boys don't cry. Besides, it wouldn't do to have a full set of six toddlers wailing in the room. Matau would-

Wait…where was their babysitter!?

x~x~x~x

"But Duuuuuuummmmeeeee!"

"Shut up. I am not letting you just shirk off your duties and leave those hellions alone just because you were having an easy time!"

"But I-"

"No buts!"

"…will you at least let go of my ear?"

"No."

Now, if people were around, they'd register this sight as, to be blunt, very weird. But there was no one around, so the humiliation of this sight was not as bad, but it was still very weird. (11)

It wasn't everyday you get to see Dume dragging his colleague down the hall by his ear like a misbehaved child, after all…

"Come on Dume! They're not doing anything bad-evil! I don't know what the others were whine-complaining about."

"Shut it. If you had experienced half of what we were subjected to, you'd be sitting in the corner rocking. Now shut up and do your job!" Dume snapped, shoving Matau into the door leading to the toddler's room.

"Ugh, alright, alright! Geez, you sound worse than my mother…" Matau grumbled, digging in his pocket for the key to the door.

"Just can it and make sure those beasts haven't broken anything of mine!"

"Geez, your worry-concern for them is so heart-warming…" Matau said sarcastically, sliding the key into the door. (12)

Dume flipped him a very delightful hand gesture before turning to leave. He didn't plan on sticking around to possibly get roped into-

CRASH!

Both Turaga paused at the loud, but very dull, crashing noise. It sounded like someone had taken a wrecking ball to a building a few blocks off!

"…what was that?" Dume growled, glaring at Matau as if just knowing it was somehow his fault.

"I don't know. It was probably just a building collapse-falling or something. You heart-know how run down the city is." Matau pouted.

Dume had to begrudgingly agree. It wouldn't be a first time a building finally collapsed from its last leg around these parts. The fall of their city and loss of Matoran also meant a loss of building management, hence numerous buildings collapsing from their poor condition. (13)

"It sounded rather close. I should probably check if it wasn't-"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"WAH! Matou! Matou!" (14)

The door banging and childish interpretation of Matau's name suddenly rang through the door to the toddler's room. Matau quickly forgot about the noise and unlocked the door, slipping inside.

"What the hell is-?"

"MATOU!" the kids suddenly came barreling towards him and attaching themselves to his legs when he wasn't even halfway through the door. All were bawling and pointing hysterically to either each other, or the back of the room. All of them were spilling numerous complaints incoherently.

"Kongu hurt Matty!"

"Nupu hit Hewkii!"

"Hewkii hurt Hahli!"

"Ja hit me!"

"Wall! Wall! Wall!"

Through all of this, what really caught Matau's attention was Matoro's exclamations of 'wall'. What about the wall? What could possibly be wrong with the-

…oh dear god.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THE WALL GO!?"

"Matau! What are you yelling about? And what about the wall?"

Dume's voice from behind him suddenly set off numerous red flags in his head. There was no way he was going to let Dume see this and _not _pin it all on him!

"Matau, what is-"

"Nothing!" Matau promptly shoved Dume out before he could catch sight of the room.

Or what was left of it anyways…

"What are you-!?"

"Uh, nothing! Just the kids being kids! Hahahaha! Just, uh, wait there a second!" Matau slammed the door shut, locked it, and pinned himself against it for good measure.

Although, in doing so, he was faced with the rather large gaping hole where the back wall would be, and the fact that he wasn't seeing things as he originally hoped.

The back wall was gone. Half the ceiling connected to that wall was gone, and there were what looked like saw blade cuts _everywhere_. The floors, the ceiling, the walls, on _tables _and _chairs_. It was like a scene out of a cartoon!

And the wall…

'_What wall!?' _was his first thought.

Dear sweet mother of Mata-nui on stilts, Dume was going to _mutilate _him…

"How did this even happen…?" he rasped, too astonished to express any exaggeration.

Seeming to understand his words, all fingers pointed to Kongu. He saw this, and somehow, he wasn't as surprised as he should be. But he was wondering _how _Kongu managed this all by himself.

"Kongu stole your toy!" Nuparu said in a tattling manner. (15)

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Matau ignored their argument as he tried to wrack his brain for what they were talking about. Toy? He didn't have a toy on his person. What were they…?

…oh.

The mental image of a certain staff crossed his mind. Said staff was equipped with a jungle saw-blade, and was quite capable of inflicting this kind of damage. He had no doubt that Kongu got his mitts on it and somehow did all of this.

But that being said, it wasn't Kongu who was going to get the blame here…

"I'm gonna die today aren't I?" he asked himself.

Maybe it wasn't too late for him to change his name and run away to join the circus…

x~x~x~x

Which brings us back to now. With Matau still standing before the gaping hole of what used to be a wall, unable to think of some form of a cover up, and awaiting his possible demise in five minutes.

"What the hell!?"

…maybe less than five minutes, that scream being heard from the ground below considered. Matau gulped and crept over to the edge, peeking down. He blanched a stark white at seeing his fellow Turaga standing in front of the now blocked front door, staring at the pile of wall in astonishment.

One of the Turaga, Nuju, suddenly looked up and spotted him. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together. His fists clenched, his frame shook, and his face turned a tinge red.

"**MATAU!" **

Yep, Matau was, in fact, going to die today…

x~x~x~x

"Are you bloody _insane!?_" It wasn't even one of two of the Turaga yelling this, but all six.

"Uh…" was all Matau could get out.

After a thorough beating from both Dume and Nuju, he was rendered slightly incapacitated at the moment. He was still counting stars, and wondering if he was missing a few teeth. He was also pretty sure one of them shoved their staff up his nose. That, or they punched it hard enough to make it feel like that…

"You left them all alone for the entire time!? And with your _saw _of all things!?" Vakama snapped.

"I always figured you weren't that bright, but now I just know you're an idiot…" Onewa grunted. He was far past angry, and was in fact, quite impressed. It…in all honesty, was a rather impressive feat. By _toddlers _of all things.

"I said I was sorry!"

"No, that's not sorry! Sorry, is when you step on someone's foot in the movie theater! Sorry is when you spill a drink on your friends carpet! _Sorry _is when you ask, 'oh, when's the baby due?' but then it just turns out the person's just fat! _SORRY _is when I get through turning you inside-out for ruining my Coliseum!" Dume roared. (16)

"Oh come on already! What do you want me to speak-say!? That I was a stupid-idiot for leaving them alone for a few measly-small hours!?"

"No, we want you to walk into the street, wait for a bus, and bend over!" Nuju snapped. (17)

"Hey! They didn't get hurt!"

"But they could have! And how do you explain that bump on Matoro's head!? He could have a concussion!"

"Oh for god's SAKE Nuju! It's not like he split-cracked his head open or something! I mean, geez! Cut the cord already! You're scary-weird when you're all maternal!"

Nuju's face could have killed an army of Manas at Matau's words. His mask unintentionally activated and split a rather large piece of wall in half he was so angry.

"**I'll cut your FACE you son of a bitch!"**

"GAH! Not the face!"

The others gave up. They were too emotionally drained to deal with this. And honestly, Nuju was beating Matau enough to contribute for them and many others, if the green Turaga's girlish screams were anything to go by.

But Dume had finally lost all semblance of patience by this point. He was getting these kids out of his hair, and he was getting them out _now!_

"That's it. I've had it. Vakama!" He snapped.

"Erm, yes?" Vakama asked nervously. That look Dume was giving him could not be anything good.

"I have had it up to here with those little monsters! You and the others have exactly one week to figure this out and change them back! I am not having them here a moment longer!"

"Dume! You can't do that! They're children! We can't keep them in our koros, too much suspicion will arise." Nokama tried to reason.

"Exactly. People are already asking where these Matoran are! Do you have any idea how many times Macku has come over for Hewkii? I swear she's acting as if he's been murdered!" Onewa exclaimed.

"Well if you all don't solve this, then there is a chance he and the others _are _going to be murdered. They are _not _my problem!" Dume snapped. (18)

"How dare you say that!? Dume, these were once just as much your Matoran as they are ours!" Whenua snapped.

"Shut up! I am not going to discuss this any further! One week to either find different living arrangements, or a way to change them back, and that's it!"

"But-!"

"Discussion over!" Dume promptly stomped off back to his half ruined Coliseum, growling the whole way.

The others stared after him in a slight daze, as if their brains were trying to catch up to what had just happened.

By this point, Nuju was long done beating up Matau and was joining the others in the stare off. Matau decided then to get up and open his mouth.

"Ah, don't heart-worry about that stiff. He's just going through withdrawal." He said. (19)

This time, Nuju did, in fact, knock a tooth out of his mouth.

Although he was somewhat grateful it was his turn to babysit…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_Wow, wasn't this just a load of chaos? XDD I know you all were probably expecting something more chaotic, but I think I did pretty well. That and I'm getting excited on doing Nuju's bit. I had his entire plot planned out long before I published the first chapter! *uber excited*_

_1)- In case some of you didn't know, this is the one chapter where it starts at the end of the scenario, and plays back what had happened prior._

_2)- Mom! There's a bird in the house! XD_

_3)- Cainophobia: a fear of new things or change. Lots of kids develop this fear in their early years after they have become comfortable and accustomed to their routine. This can later stem into adulthood in the form of someone who craves control and a daily schedule._

_4)- Get your box of Matoro noms! Box of Matoro noms! They're uber delicious and cute!_

_5)- ...PFT! Yeah, sure, whatever you say Matau._

_6)- Cookies and cake to those who can figure out where the 'Petepan' ref came from! Btw, he's talking about the air toa he saw on TV in our previous chapter._

_7)- Some kids have sleep prone bodies due to either a weak immune system or as a coping mechanism for various reasons._

_8)- You all...have no idea...how bad I was cracking up while writing this paragraph. I swear, I head-desk'd at least three times before I had to turn away for a minute to collect myself._

_9)- Matau's staff is, in fact, equipped with a rotating saw. Look it up._

_10)- Its common fact. MANY kids are afraid of getting their first hair cut because they think it'll hurt. Come on, its scissors to your head, so of course they would think it would hurt._

_11)- We all know Matau gets yanked by his ear on a regular basis. Don't you dare deny it. XD_

_12)- Ah, Dume's concern for the toddlers' wellbeing is just so heartwarming, isn't it?_

_13)- This is actually a very believable thought. The city of Metru-nui in shambles and overrun with Rahi and left-over Visorac webs, it must be pretty unstable._

_14)- The kids can't pronounce certain names. Matau is now pronounced Mataou. (Matt-oo.)_

_15)- Kongu is one of the few words they can pronounce correctly. Its only two easy syllables. Kon-goo._

_16)- Cookies to those who get where a good half of his rant came from. 8D_

_17)- I have in fact said this exact phrase to one or two people in real life._

_18)- SOMEONE needs a Midol._

_19)- Dume - Alcohol = EXPLOSION._


	12. Nursemaid Nuju

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 12_

_Nursemaid Nuju._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure! ?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Ah yes! The part I have been DYING to write! God, what is it with me and these two? I swear, my fixation on Nuju and Matoro is going to come back to bite me in the butt one of these days. I just know it! XD_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

_On with the fic!_

X~X~X~X~X~X

To say the least, the other Turaga were feeling a little conflicted at the moment.

It was now currently Nuju's turn to take his shift and babysit the kids, or more specifically to the icy Turaga, Matoro. Now, they had to real problem with this. What they had a hard time deciding was whether they should be worried or not.

Fact here is, Nuju was a rather unpredictable man in terms of his attitude. He was just so unreadable at times, it was impossible to decipher if now was a good time to either break in bad news to him or to keep your mouth shut. And as in control of his emotions as he was, he could come undone like an avalanche. One minute he's sitting quietly and nearly invisible to all present, next he's threatening to shove his staff somewhere pleasant.

And the kids were just as unpredictable. Mix that in with a temperamental Turaga playing favorite equals a very fuzzy and uncertain twenty-four hours.

And so far, Nuju was proving to be a bit of an iffy choice…

"The hell is he?" Onewa grunted.

"It's only been fifteen minutes Onewa. Give him time." Nokama reassured.

Currently, he and the other four were waiting by the Coliseum for their icy counterpart to show up and take his shift. So far, everyone, sans Dume, who was holed up in his office, had showed up to see him off and make sure the first few minutes didn't end blowing up in their faces. Literally.

"See, this only proves his hypocrisy. He's the one always nagging on us to show up early not only to meetings, but also for the kids, and he's showing up late himself." Onewa grumbled, Whenua nodding in agreement next to him.

Vakama rolled his eyes, "Give him time, he's probably just nervous."

"Hah! Nervous? Of spending some alone-quality time with his snow-rabbit? Hardly!" Matau snickered. (1)

The looks the others fixed him with were enough to shut him up. They seemed to make it their personal mission to make sure he never forgot just how much of a screw-up he was with the kids…

But, no sooner had they started to wonder, Nuju finally showed up. And apparently with a few other items, the messenger bag over his shoulder considered.

And…was that a camera?

"…what's with the-?"

"Nothing. It's just something I brought along. You all can leave now." Nuju said, cutting Vakama off. (2)

The fire Turaga blinked owlishly, a bit unsure at this point.

But before any of them could question him, Dume stomped out of the Coliseum, Jaller and Matoro held under either of his arms.

"Will you all hurry up and get him in here!? These monsters are driving me up the wall!" he snapped.

Jaller struggled in his hold, whining to be put down. He was obviously in a bad mood. Matoro, however, was rather limp. He was honestly just glad Dume caught them and stopped Jaller from bugging him.

And noticing his papa not just a few feet off, his eyes brightened and he reached his arms out, his legs kicking.

"Papa! Papa!" He called.

Ironic, the others thought. The icy Turaga seemed to melt into a puddle at the sight of his Matoran, even more so by the nickname Matoro had dubbed him the moment he had been found. Matau would have been laughing and teasing him around now, but he was still a bit traumatized from the previous day's events…

"Move…" The icy Turaga wove around his colleagues towards Dume.

"Ugh, finally. Now take these heathens before I do something stupid." Dume snapped.

Nuju shot Dume an imposingly sharp glare, as if daring him to say or do something else. But seeing his Matoran presented to him, Nuju took the little bundle into his arms, trying rather fruitlessly to hide his endearment. He took Jaller as well, but placed him on the ground to stand beside him instead.

Jaller did _not _approve. (3)

Matoro, however, was quite pleased and clung rather happily to Nuju's jacket. He buried himself against his chest, playing with the buttons of his coat.

Nuju shot a halfhearted glare to Nokama as she giggled in bemusement at the heartfelt scene. Despite his eagerness to spend a bit of time with his Matoran, he refused to have his long earned reputation tarnished!

"Shouldn't you all be going now?" He said rather gruffly. Vakama smiled enduringly at his obvious embarrassment.

"Yes, yes, we'll leave you to it. Good luck." Herding the others away, they all left for their homes. Dume himself had also vanished, again, no doubt locked in his office to sulk about the situation.

But now with everyone gone, Nuju seemed to realize something…

He was alone. With six kids. Which he had to take care of. For an entire day.

'_Oh dear Mata-nui, what have I gotten myself into?' _he thought. (4)

He was taken out of his thoughts by a rather harsh tug on his coat. Looking down his left side, he was met with a rather irritated looking Jaller.

With his cheeks puffed and slightly red, Jaller threw his arms up.

"Up!" he demanded.

Nuju stared at the child for a while as his brain processed just what the child had said. And when it sunk in, he couldn't help but frown disapprovingly. How rude. (5)

"That is not how you ask for something. And anyways, I am quite confident you can walk. Now come along." Nuju said sternly, walking inside.

Jaller was left standing there for a moment, quite confused to what just happened. His confusion soon passed however, and his cheeks puffed up again. He refused to be ignored! If Matoro got to be picked up, then so should he!

"Jaller!"

Jaller jumped at his name being called. He quickly turned and trotted inside, not wanting to be left behind.

X~X~X~X~X~X

In the few hours that had passed, Nuju realized something…

He didn't want to do this anymore…

This was just so…awkward! There was no other word to describe it! It felt so _weird _acting as a nanny to what used to be a room full of once full grown Matoran. He just couldn't shake the weirdness of this situation, and it was starting to affect his performance.

And okay, so he had been wanting to do this, but for no other reason other than to watch over Matoro. From what the others who had babysat previously told him, Jaller had set his eye on Matoro as his primary bully target. He'd constantly berate Matoro for some reason or another, even physically harm him by yanking his hair or pushing him. Matoro would give almost no response to his mistreatment and would try to ignore him. But his patience was starting to dwindle. Nuju had more than once seen Matoro on the verge of tears or anger at Jaller under the Ta-Matoran's antics. It more than angered the Turaga, it infuriated him! No one messed with his baby damn it! (6)

'…_I did NOT just think that.'_ Nuju thought with a dejected expression. He could practically see his beloved reputation as an icy bastard going down the toilet…

Well, it wasn't like he could back out now. He was already here, and like hell was he going to leave them with Dume. And honestly, they've probably asked enough of him already.

After being promised the sun, the moon, a few slips of booze, and a month of no Matau-relate antics, Dume finally pitched in by providing a new room for the kids and an extra three days to find a permanent solution to their predicament. (7) Although, so far, ideas for that were running shorter than Dume's temper.

And that's pretty darn short…

The ice Turaga sighed and crossed his arms. Well, he supposed he had it easy. The kids were taking advantage of the new toys and games he had brought along, leaving him a great amount of time to sit down and enjoy the book he brought along (although, he honestly didn't expect to so much as get past the first page during his shift) and the only real headache was tugging at the leg of his pants for attention.

"Birdie! Birdie! Birdie!"

Nuju's brow twitched. No, he was not going to snap at the little monster. If anything, the recent stories of the others' shifts have been rather useful references on what _not _to do in a situation like this.

"Kongu, I am _not _a bird. Now what do you want?" he grit out as patiently as he could.

"Wanna fly! Yay!"

Fly? Why was he telling him he wanted to-…oh, right.

Apparently it wasn't a very bright idea to let the kids know you are capable of making things 'fly' as he says. Although, he couldn't help how they found out. He couldn't find a stepping-stool, how else was he supposed to get the peanut butter for their sandwiches down from the pantry? That, and his telekinetic powers have long since become a bit of an ingrained habit into his everyday life. Matoro often joked that he was 'too lazy' to get up and get things himself… (8)

God that kid was a pain in the ass. But he was impossible to hate and simply adorable…

But returning to the problem at hand, Nuju tried to ingrain himself back into his book, crossed his legs, and hope his answer for the little blond bugger would be enough to get him to leave him alone.

"Kongu, I am not making you 'fly', as you put it." He said firmly.

"But whhhyyyyyy~?" Kongu whined. Ugh, like nails on a chalkboard. Not _anything _like his Matoran's angelic little voice…

"Because it's dangerous."

"Why?"

"Because I might have the sudden urge to throw you out a window."

"Why?"

"Because even as a child, you are even more of a nuisance than you were before."

"Why?"

"I cannot possibly begin to tell you 'why' due to the lengthy list of reasons."

"Why?"

"You are giving me a headache…"

"Why?"

"Because you are annoying."

"Why?"

"Just because…!"

"Why?" (9)

"Damn it Kongu! Just _because _alright!?"

A bit of a staring contest ensured. One with wide, expectant eyes, the other full of retained irritation and an intense sense of dwindling restraint.

Staring contests, it seemed, were becoming an unhealthy frequency around here…

"…what?" Nuju grit out. He had hoped his famous 'Death Glare' would be enough to send the child packing. (10) It certainly worked on a good ninety percent of island.

"…okie! Hehehe!" Kongu promptly scampered off in a fit of giggles.

Nuju was left sitting there wondering if he should be at all concerned for the Matoran's mental health…

'_Moreover, should I be concerned for my own mental health?' _he thought to himself. But he shook his head and sighed, returning to his book.

However, before he could get past the first paragraph…

A sudden tug at his leg brought him out of his thoughts and into an irritated state.

"Kongu, for the last time, I am not-"

"Papa?"

Now here is where, if this were a cartoon, you'd hear that obnoxious record scratching signaling the sudden sharp turn of an event. That always anticipated, 'whoa, back up' moment that every audience expects out of a good sitcom. (11)

Attention once on his book, was now fully and utterly averted to the little bundle that stood not too much higher than his knees. Bright blue eyes stared up at him expectantly yet shyly. Whatever it was the Matoran wanted, Nuju had no doubt he would be wrapped around the child's finger.

In fact, by this point, if the Matoran asked for a pony, Nuju was pretty sure he'd do everything in his power to get him one. Because darn it, if his child wanted a pony, he was _getting _a pony a damn it! (12)

'_It's official. I'm going to hell…' _He thought remorsefully.

"Um, y-yes?" of all of the indignantly, he was _stuttering _in the face of a _toddler_.

The little Matoran stared up at him for a while longer before shyly lifting his arms up towards Nuju.

"Up?"

Yep, there he goes. Melting like a stick of butter in the Great Furnace. He was putty. Gone. Poof. (13)

Leaning down, Nuju picked up the tiny cherub and situated him on his lap. (14) Getting comfortable, Matoro curled up and snuggled up against Nuju's stomach, sticking his thumb into his mouth. And with his drowsy expression, Nuju guessed it was time for one of those naps he took every other hour. (15)

Three words. So fricken adorable.

While Matoro took his nap, Nuju focused on his book (Star and Planet Longitudes and Mathematics) (16) and wrapped his free arm around Matoro tightly. The Turaga took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief after a moment.

He was more than thankful Matoro was acting…well, normal again.

Ever since he arrived, Matoro had been acting so out of sorts for no real reason. Every now and again, he'd find his little cherub just sitting off somewhere all by himself either doing nothing or drawing. Other times he was in a corner somewhere and just…staring. Just _staring! _

And after experiencing this more than once, Nuju's 'overprotective-daddy' mental alarm went off like a five-alarm bitch.

It had already happened twice in the past few hours…

~x~x~x~

It was around an hour or so after Nuju arrived. And after procuring a room, the kids were herded inside and introduced to their new toys and games.

Nuju and Matoro, however, had entered the conjoining spare room about five minutes ago, and have yet to come out, much to Nuparu's displeasure. He wanted to play with Matoro! He was pretty!

He whined and halfheartedly pounded his fists against the door. What was happing to Matoro? Was he in trouble? Was he hurt?

Seeing this, Jaller wandered over to Nuparu, curious at his odd behavior.

"Whuz wrong Nupu?" he asked.

"Matty not comin' out! Wanna play with Matty!" Nuparu whined.

At the mention of the white Matoran's name, Jaller's cheeks puffed and he pouted. Matoro always got all the attention, especially Hahli's. It wasn't fair! Hahli was _his _friend!

His thoughts were cut off as the door finally opened, Nuju stepping out with the thought of Matoran in his arms, and his camera.

However, Matoro looked different. Instead of his standard overly long baby blue sweater and white pants, he was in a loose fitting sandy blue and white sailor suit, complete with shorts and a cap. Although, he didn't seem at all bothered by the sudden wardrobe change. But his eyes kind of still hurt from that weird flashy box thingy his papa had been pointing at him… (17)

Now over at the designated play area, Nuju set him down by his penguin to play.

"All done, you may play now if you like." Nuju said, now satisfied with the numerous pictures he took. He only hoped he brought enough film to capture other things Matoro did!

"Okie!" Matoro beamed.

Smiling enduringly, Nuju turned towards his designated chair to watch over the kids.

Now alone, Matoro picked up a few blocks and began building a very vague igloo for his penguin. Nuparu eventually joined in and started helping, eventually branching off and making other buildings and formations.

Nuju, meanwhile, pulled out the book he had brought along with him for these, although rare, quiet moments. The kids were content with their toys and weren't bothering him, so he figured now was a good time to get some decent reading done without distractions.

But before he started reading, he looked up at the kids (Matoro) one last time before he got lost in off-white pages and black print, expecting to see Matoro still at play.

How wrong he was…

'…_what the…?' _He thought.

Staring. That was all Matoro was doing. He was just staring out into space with wide, blank eyes. It looked like he had been in the middle of putting a block up on a tower, but he had paused in the middle and was letting his arm just hang there with the block still in his hand.

Nuju blinked once. Twice. Still there. No change. He was still staring at nothing. He wasn't even blinking!

Now thoroughly concerned, Nuju got up and cautiously moved over to Matoro, kneeling down beside him. He was tempted to wave a hand in front of his face, but thought against it and instead decided a verbal intervention was in order.

"Matoro?" He tried.

At first there was no response, and Nuju was about to call to him again, before Matoro suddenly blinked and looked around, as if suddenly realizing where he was.

Nuju gave a confused, yet thoroughly concerned expression as Matoro looked up at him. The little toddler seemed to stare at him for a moment before cracking a tiny smile at him and waving.

"Hi!" he beamed.

Nuju blinked, a little bit surprised. Well if that wasn't at all weird, he didn't know what was.

"Matoro, what were you looking at?" he asked.

When he asked this, he wasn't expecting Matoro to look at him with a totally clueless expression. It was as if he had no idea what Nuju was talking about. He blinked and cocked his head to one side, not understanding.

"Wha…?" he cooed.

If it wasn't for the fact that Nuju was still a bit worried, he would have snagged his camera and taken a picture. The expression and head-tilt was adorable…

"Um…never mind." Nuju said with a nervous smile. He got up and went back to his seat, leaving Matoro to play with his toys.

Although, he couldn't shake that he was missing something…

~x~x~x~

Lunch rolled around in what seemed like no time whatsoever.

And on today's menu (more precisely, what the kids demanded) were PB and J sandwiches. Easy enough, and not at all time consuming. (18) Although, Kongu still demanded cake…for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If he was raised by parents who actually gave him cake for his meals, well then…it explained everything… (19)

And now Nuju had yet another reason to beat up Matau. Apparently the idiot forgot to make the kids' breakfast that morning. So that being said, the kids were hungry. Understatement of the century aside, all six were currently huddled around his legs as they impatiently waited for their food.

And with this fact in mind, to say the least, Nuju found himself a bit…stuck.

He more than once tried to step around, or over, the kids, but wherever he moved, they followed him like a damn shadow! He'd more than once nearly, just _nearly_, stepped on one them of them; mostly Kongu since he was such a little speed terror. Nuju swore, Kongu _had _to be part puppy. Because there is _no way _the kid should have this kind of agility, nor the ability to tick him off by doing nothing but weaving around his feet and making such obnoxious noises!

Well, he supposed he should count his lucky stars. His mask gave him quite the advantage over the kids should they be A, going somewhere they shouldn't. B, doing something they shouldn't. Or C, grating his last nerves by practically clinging to his legs like a bunch of half-starved monkeys.

Nuju only regretted letting Kongu see his, as he put it, 'magic powuh!' He was constantly asking Nuju to make him fly like Toa Petepan. (20)

Who the hell even was Toa Petepan? He'd never heard of such a Toa!

"Food! Food! Now!"

Seriously, these kids needed to learn some manners…

Now done, and the kids _finally _off of his feet, Nuju took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. The kids were all at the table in their makeshift 'high chairs'. Now, he says 'high chairs', but all they really were were just regular chairs with numerous books stacked up on them. (21)

Dume was such a cheap bastard…

Nuju shook his head. Now wasn't the time to mentally abuse Dume, despite his ire towards him at the moment. Now, he had to prepare himself for what could possibly end up as a once clean kitchen turning into a peanut butter and jelly hurricane…

And by the sight of Kongu, once again, deciding his food would be better on him than in his stomach, turned his sandwich into a of pair of earmuffs. Fantastic… (22)

'_Fabulous. I get to clean out byproducts from a miniature devil's ears.' _He thought with a sigh. Well, live and learn…

And while Nuju was contemplating whether or not Kongu should be dressed up in some kind of anti-spill suit, he seemed to notice something. Or rather, he _didn't _notice something.

Matoro wasn't in his chair. His sandwich only had a few bites taken out of it, and the milk he placed out was untouched. Big question here was, where did he go?

"Matoro…?" Nuju looked around the kitchen with his sharp eyes. Nothing. No little tuft of white hair, no adorable sailor suit, nothing.

And with his heart making its way into his throat, Nuju looked to the other kids.

"Did any of you see where Matoro went?" he asked, hoping they would give _some _kind of answer.

Nuparu, it seems, was the one to give the answer.

"Pwitty wen' der'!" He pointed with his, still here, wrench to the door to the back room. His sandwich was practically crammed two thirds of the way into his mouth, hence his muffled speech.

Although glad he had a lead, Nuju made a mental note to get that thing away from the unpredictable Onu-Matoran. He was NOT going to go through an entire day of self-electrocution just because a certain green idiot was being…well, an idiot!

"Alright, just stay put. _Don't _move…" he warned them. Although, considering they were kids, he had no doubts they would use reverse psychology on him… (23)

Leaving the kids, Nuju peeked into the back room joining to the kitchen. He didn't see Matoro at first, but after completely entering, he couldn't help but release the breath he didn't even know he was holding.

But, that relief however, was short lived.

Matoro, for one, was standing in front of one of the lounge chairs, and just staring at it. Secondly, he seemed completely oblivious to Nuju's presence. And like before, his eyes were wide and unblinking, as if transfixed onto something.

'_What the hell is going on?' _Nuju thought, his heart picking up again.

Matoro still didn't move, and Nuju couldn't take much more of it anymore. He pushed through the door and knelt beside Matoro, calling his name.

"Matoro?" he got no response, just like the first time this happened. Now he was getting seriously worried.

"Matoro." He said, a bit louder now. If he was sure it was physically impossible, he would swear he felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"Matoro!" With a sudden jolt, Nuju picked the Matoran up, making him look up at his very worried face.

And with the blink of a pair of bright blue eyes, Matoro seemed to focus on him. He blinked again and looked around, as if startled, before turning to Nuju again, still confused.

"Matoro…what were you doing? You nearly scared me to death!" Nuju rasped, still slightly in shock.

It seemed to take a moment for his papa's words to sink in, and when they did, Matoro lowered his head submissively and fidgeted.

"M'sorry…" he muttered.

Nuju sighed, his once resolve vanishing at the shy, almost ashamed, expression Matoro held. It wasn't his fault; if anything, this might be normal for a kid…maybe…

"No, it's fine. Just…don't go off without telling me, alright?" he said.

"Okie…"

"Good. Now then, come on, the others are probably causing trouble without us." Nuju tried at a bit of humor as he picked him up. And it got the reaction he wanted, the tiny smile Matoro was sporting considered.

However, as he reached the door, he couldn't help but look back at the lounge Matoro had been previously staring at. There was absolutely nothing there, and yet, Matoro seemed to have some kind of fixation on it. As if someone was really there…

Nuju shook his head. No, that was nonsense. Matoro was a kid now, for all he knew, he was just interacting with an imaginary friend. And that was perfectly normal for little kids.

It was nothing. It was perfectly fine…

X~X~X~X~X~X

Well, that's what he kept telling himself. Although, Nuju still couldn't shake this odd feeling. Like there was something missing, something vital…

But what? He wasn't seeing, hearing, or smelling anything wrong around here, nor at the areas Matoro seemed to be staring at. And honestly, he was hoping it was just an imaginary friend; he had no problem with that. It was just so…odd. It was usually children who were lonely who had imaginary friends, not children constantly surrounded by others 24/7. And Matoro was a very social child, even as an adult. He was shy, yes, but not anti-social like the majority of Ko-Matoran. It just didn't make sense… (24)

'_Just what is going on in that head of yours?' _he thought, looking down at the still snoozing Matoran in his lap. He sighed. Well, wasn't much he could do at the moment…

Matoro, meanwhile, was somewhere in between actual sleep and dozing off. He more or less didn't really feel like sleeping at the moment, but it was really comfy and warm here. His papa was warm and strong, and the hand gently running over his back felt really nice.

Yawning slightly, Matoro snuggled further into Nuju's arms and stomach, crooning quietly as he curled into a ball. Maybe he would take that nap and-

'_Eh…?' _Matoro paused, opening his eyes and averting them towards the right side of the room.

Oh, he's here again…

Nuju was pulled from his book when he felt a slight tugging at his coat. He looked down and saw Matoro, surprisingly, awake and looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, what is it?" He said, setting his book aside.

Matoro pointed to the floor and tugged his coat again.

"Down pwease?" he chirped.

Nuju had to smile slightly. Well, it seems Matoro was just as well-mannered as he was as a grown Matoran. Although, he couldn't say the same for his once spit-fire attitude compared to the now mellow and quite subdued child before him.

An urgent tug brought him out of his thoughts, and finally deciding to let him down, Nuju picked him up and gently set him on his feet. And like a little bolt of lightning, Matoro bolted towards the play area, picking up his penguin along the way, along with paper and a few coloring supplies.

Nuju shook his head. He'd never understand that child, but he wasn't complaining. It was actually quite enduring seeing his Matoran doing something other than wasting his life away working. He was going to have to make some room in his office for the copious amounts of drawings Matoro did for him. (25)

Aah, he was so cute. He didn't want him to grow up…

Over at the play area, the kids barely paid much mind as Matoro joined them a few feet off by himself. He was once again busy drawing and coloring, occasionally looking up to stare into space for a minute or two.

Hahli, who was just a few feet off, was once again being persuaded into rough playing with Jaller and his Toa action figures. And although she kept refusing as politely as possible, it seemed the Matoran didn't know the meaning of the word 'no'…

Hahli sighed as Jaller shoved a toy into her hand before turning to gather more things to set up. She didn't want to play with boy-toys. She didn't like it. She wanted to have her tea party with her Octopauly, or maybe draw and color.

The sudden sound of a light laugh made her perk up and turn around. Oh, it was just Matoro. He was at a kiddie table drawing and coloring and…laughing at something?

Hahli blinked, a bit bewildered. He seemed to be looking up at something in front of him, as if he were talking to a grown-up. But…there was nothing there. What was he doing…?

Deciding to investigate, and at the same time get away before Jaller would notice, Hahli dumped the toy and stood up, dragging her plush toy along with her as she toddled over to Matoro. He didn't even seem to notice her until she plucked down beside him and poked his arm.

"Eh?" Matoro squeaked, head veering to look at Hahli with a stunned expression.

"Whatcha laughin' at?" Hahli asked.

"Oh…" Matoro sighed, looking back up at whatever it was he was looking at. Well, he trusted her. He could tell her…

"Ey-ey. He's silly." He laughed.

Again, Hahli is a bit confused here. Ey-ey? Who was ey-ey? Was he a stranger?

"Uh…where is he?" she asked, looking around nervously. Matoro smiled.

"There!" He pointed up into the thin air before them. Hahli looks unsure.

"Uuh…I dun see him…" she said.

"Oh…" Matoro paused, contemplating, before smiling again and whispering, "He's magic."

Magic? Like a wizard? Was he an invisible wizard?

How cool! (26)

"Really?" Hahli said excitingly.

"Uh-huh! But dun tell no one. It's a secwit…" Matoro whispered. Hahli eagerly nodded, and the two struck up an infantile conversation about this ey-ey.

Jaller, meanwhile, had eventually returned with an armful of stuffed toys and other action figures, only to see Hahli both missing, and her own toy lying alone on the ground. Where did she go?

The sound of her laugh drew his attention upwards a bit, and when he caught sight of her and another, he instantly dropped the toys and felt his cheeks flush red. No, it wasn't the fact she left that bugged him, it was the fact that she left him for _Matoro _that bugged him. Hahli was _his _friend! Not Matoro's! (27)

Hahli and Matoro were quite enjoying their moment of talking and coloring, but it was cut short as Jaller made his way over and glared at them.

"What're you doin'?" he huffed.

"Eh? Pwaying with Matty and ey-ey." Hahli said, slightly nervous.

Jaller blinked, frowning, "Who ey-ey?"

"That's ey-ey!" Matoro chirped, pointing to an empty kiddie seat across from him.

Jaller looked to the empty chair and frowned deeper. What? There was no one there. What was he talking about? Was he making people up so he could get Hahli's attention?

Jaller's childish temper burned deeply and he glared.

"Ey-ey's not real! No one's there! Yer lyin'!" He snapped.

"Wha? No I'm not! Ey-ey's right there…" Matoro whined, slightly hurt.

"Nu-uh! Yer lyin'!"

"N-no I'm not…!"

Hahli was stuck. She was never very good in these situations, and was clueless on what to do or say. Somewhere in her head, she felt this was her fault for coming over to Matoro and leading Jaller to them.

Maybe she should get their babysitter…?

"Hey! Give it back Ja!"

"Nu-uh! Say yer lyin'!"

Startled, Hahli could see that Jaller had reached across the table and stolen Matoro's sailor hat, holding it up above his head so the shorter Matoran couldn't reach it. Matoro had gotten up, running around the table, to try and reclaim his hat.

"Pwease Ja! Give it back!" he cried, trying to reach his hat.

"No!"

Nuparu, not too far from the commotion, seemed to perk up at the sound of Matoro's distressed voice. He quickly turned away from dismembering a wooden toy, seeing what was happening. Instantly catching Matoro's hurt expression, his body set into an automatic 'save pwitty' mode.

"Ja! Bad! Leave 'im alone!" He cried, running to tackle Jaller.

Yep, definitely time to get help, was Hahli's thought.

Nuju, completely oblivious to the trouble, was far gone in his book, his surroundings seemingly dissolved from his senses; one of the many perks, or flaws in some people's opinion, to his book-worm mind. And honestly, he planned on it staying like this for the remainder of the day.

But again, it seems fate had other ideas.

"Wah! Wah! Juju! Juju!"

Nuju couldn't stop the cringe that formed over his face. Yes, they were children and couldn't pronounce certain words, but really? 'Juju'? Matau was going to have a field day if he ever caught wind of this…(28)

"What is it Hahli?" he asked, looking down at her as she tugged rather frantically at his pants.

"Help! Ja hurtin' matty! Nupu hurtin' Ja!" she cried, close to tears now and pointing frantically to what was once a quiet play area.

An instant spark of overprotective anger flared in Nuju's chest at this. Jaller was hurting Matoro. _Jaller _was hurting _his _Matoro! _NO ONE _hurts _HIS _baby…!

"AH! Ja no! Let go! WAH!"

"Meanie! Dun hurt Matty!"

Currently, Jaller had Matoro by a tuft of hair and was yanking quite harshly. Nuparu himself was trying to tug Matoro away from Jaller, which only seemed to make things worse since Jaller had him by his hair. What had started out as simply stealing Matoro's sailor cap to taunt him turned into a rather painful tug-o-war.

Matoro himself was in tears, trying to get Jaller to let go, and for Nuparu to stop pulling. He wanted his hat back. Papa gave him that hat! He didn't want to lose it!

"No!" Jaller snapped, yanking harder.

"AH! PAPA!" Now pretty much bawling, the other two kids were too frazzled to know what to do. Both Kongu and Hewkii were close to tears themselves just watching. They didn't know what to do!

"**JALLER!" **(29)

One would think time had frozen if they were looking at the sudden stop in action from the group. The instant of shock passed as quick as it came, all heads (minus Matoro, as he was still crying) turned to the very tall, very angry, very _imposing _Turaga before them.

And whether it was from their crazy imagination or not, they swore they could see flames in the background and his eyes turn red. He was _that _mad.

"Let. Him. Go," He, quite literally, grit out through clenched teeth, "Now…"

As if under a spell, Jaller instantly let go of Matoro's hair, eyes wide, and suddenly very nervous. He knew he was caught, and by the looks of it, he was in for it _big time…_

Eyes still locked onto Jaller like a very pissed off Muaka stalking its prey, Nuju leaned down and picked up the still sobbing Matoran into his arms, briefly inspecting him for any injury; none were present, thankfully. Matoro, instantly recognizing his papa's touch and scent, latched onto him like a lifeline, sobbing into his chest.

He stood back up, gently trying to calm Matoro by stroking his back and head.

"Everyone except Jaller, go into the other room." He said lowly.

Audibly gulping, the kids obeyed and quietly herded into the joining bedroom. Once he was sure they were all gone, and Matoro's sobs reduced to whimpering hiccups, Nuju turned back to Jaller with a very intimidating look.

If Jaller knew what it meant, he would have said he was screwed…

"Now…" Nuju started, "I'm not even going to ask why you hurt Matoro like this, because past evidence says you don't need one. All I need to know is that you were hurting him for no reason whatsoever, and that's enough to get you into trouble."

Jaller looked close to tears himself. He knew what he did was wrong, but he didn't think he'd get caught! In fact, he didn't think at all! He was just trying to prove a point! (30)

"But…! But…ey-ey's not real!" He cried, his eyes watering.

Nuju had to frown in confusion at this. Ey-ey? Who, or what, the hell was ey-ey?

"He is too real…!" Matoro sniffled into Nuju's chest.

Again, Nuju is a bit lost here. But he decided that the fact Jaller hurt Matoro was enough. Debate or not, he had no right to hurt him like this! And if it wasn't for the fact that he was a child and Nuju had calmed a little, the Turaga would have given him something to _really _cry about instead of getting in trouble.

"You are going into the next room for the rest of the day. No toys, no games, nothing. Now go." Nuju said firmly, pointing to the second room. (31)

"But-"

"NOW…"

Sniffling slightly, Jaller obeyed and shuffled towards the joining spare room. Nuju shut the door behind him, making a mental note to do something about him later after his punishment. For now, he went back into the bedroom and set Matoro down on a bed, ushering the other kids out to go back and play for a while; he also made sure no one let Jaller out of the other room. He was being punished, so he wasn't allowed out.

Now alone, Nuju sighed, shaking his head. He took out a handkerchief and carefully started wiping Matoro's face of his tears. Having him blow his nose as well, Nuju sat Matoro up in his lap to talk.

"Now, can you tell me why Jaller was hurting you?" he asked softly, gently stroking his head. Matoro sniffled and wiped his eyes one more time before speaking.

"Ja says ey-ey's not real…" he rasped, his voice still tight from crying.

Again, Nuju is completely clueless as to what this ey-ey is, but he planned to find out.

"Who is ey-ey? Is he a friend of yours?" he asked.

Matoro nodded, sniffling again.

"We were pwaying, but Ja said no one was there. But there was! Ey-ey's real!" Matoro cried.

Nuju was a bit stuck now. Apparently Matoro did, in fact, have some kind of imaginary friend. And as much as he felt he should, he was unsure of whether or not he should tell Matoro imaginary friends were just that; imaginary, not real, just fake manifestations… (32)

"And this…ey-ey, where does he live?" he asked carefully.

"…"

"…does he…what does he look like?" Nuju tried again.

Matoro didn't answer at first, instead crawling off of Nuju's lap and towards the pillows. He dug under them, producing a pile of drawing paper, all of them filled with pictures. Nuju watched, slightly surprised, as Matoro shuffled through them before picking one out and giving it to Nuju.

"That's ey-ey…" he said quietly, pointing to what appeared to be a full grown Matoran standing beside a crude drawing of Nuju himself and Matoro.

Nuju looked at the picture carefully, and after a moment, a jolt of pure shock shot through his heart. He instantly felt the blood drain from his face, and his heart picked up.

Light brown hair, a tall build, silver-grey eyes, and the unmistakable Knowledge Tower uniform. This person…no, it couldn't be.

…could it?

"Matoro…is ey-ey his real name?" he had to ask. Matoro shook his head.

"Uh-uh. It's uh…I…I-e…I-e-w…" he tried to pronounce.

"I-…Ihu?" Nuju rasped.

"Yeah! Ey-yew!"

Nuju felt his heart stop for a full minute. No…no, it was impossible. Ihu was…Ihu died _years _ago. His friend was dead. How would Matoro know about him? He had _no _memories of being a grown Matoran, and there were no clues of Ihu in the Coliseum. How does he know about him!? How did he even know what he _looked _like!? He didn't even know what Ihu looked like when he was a grown Matoran!

"M-Matoro…wh-where…how do you know about him?" desperation was visible in his voice.

"We pway together all the time." Matoro said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Nuju's hands shook, unconsciously crinkling the picture in his hands. This was impossible, there was just _no way…_

"Where…where is he…now?" he rasped.

Matoro looked at him for a second, as if about to respond, when he suddenly paused and looked to the other bed across from them. Again, his eyes took on that distant, hazy look, widening considerably and unblinking.

Nuju had to take a moment to stare at him with a similar look, the gears in his head turning dangerously in his head.

No…no, there was no way he was…could he _see_…?

"Ma…Matoro?" he rasped, feeling an overwhelming sensation wash over his body. He was suddenly feeling faint.

After a moment, Matoro blinked away his distant gaze, a tiny smile making its way over his face. He looked at Nuju, crawling into his lap again and looking up at him.

"Ey-ey said to not be sad. He's sorry, he didn't mean to hurt you. It wasn't yer fault you couldn't save him. He wants you to be happy! He misses you, but he's happy too! He'll never forget his snow-top!"

Nuju, again, felt that overwhelming sensation of shock come over him. No one…no one except Ihu called him that. It was such a terrible nickname the eccentric Ko-Matoran gave him when he took him under his wing as his mentor.

Matoro continued, his smile never faltering. If anything, it seemed like it was growing.

"He's so pwoud of you, papa!"

Too much. It was all too much. Right as Matoro hugged him and finished speaking, tears capsized down Nuju's face, his gaze flickering up to where Matoro had been previously staring. He strained to try and see. He tried with every fiber of his being to just try and _see _him.

"Papa…?"

Hearing the small voice, Nuju looked down at Matoro, noticing his concerned look.

"Why you cwying…?" Matoro asked.

Nuju swallowed, trying to stop the flow of tears. But it was no use; he was too far gone to stop it.

"I…it's nothing. I'm just…hurting a bit, I suppose." He said, trying to be discreet.

"Wha? Where?" Matoro asked, worried for his papa.

Nuju sighed and smiled slightly. Even when he was so childish, he still held concern for others' wellbeing. He probably had no idea that the pain he was feeling wasn't from a physical wound, but something much deeper. He probably also didn't know that he wasn't just sad, he was happy. He wouldn't experience such mixed emotions in this state.

So instead of explaining, Nuju picked up his tiny hand and placed it over his heartstone.

"Papa is hurting in here. But it'll pass eventually, with time." he reassured.

Matoro, giving a saddened look, gazed into the glowing blue crystal imbedded in his papa's chest. He had one similar to it, but it was a lighter shade of blue, almost white. He wondered how he could get hurt there.

But giving it no thought, and deciding his papa needed something to help the pain go away, he leant in and placed a tiny cherub kiss on his heartstone and looked back up at his slightly stunned Turaga. (33)

"Better?" he asked, eyes hopeful.

After he asked, Nuju couldn't help it. Picking him up to be pressed against his shoulder, he hugged the tiny Matoran tightly and smiled into his white hair.

"Yes. Much better." He muttered.

Matoro beamed happily and hugged Nuju around his neck. His papa was better, so he was more than happy now!

X~X~X~X~X~X

Night had fallen not too long ago, and the kids were put to bed.

Matoro's sudden episodes of staring had stopped after he had talked to Nuju. But he wasn't too worried at the moment. If anything, nothing besides that little Matoran mattered now.

And tucking his thought of Matoran into bed, Nuju sat on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Ey-ey not here anymore?" he asked. Matoro shook his head.

"Uh-uh. He said he had to go back up there." Matoro pointed upwards towards the ceiling.

Nuju followed where he was pointing and frowned. The ceiling? Why would he-…oh…

"Oh…well, that's too bad." Nuju said.

Matoro nodded tiredly, obviously worn out and thoroughly exhausted from the day's events. He had long since reassured Hahli and Nuparu that he was fine, and somehow managed to rid any thoughts of getting back at Jaller from Nuparu's head. Nuju had made Jaller apologize to him, and although it was grudgingly, the Ta-Matoran did so and left Matoro alone the rest of the day. Although Vakama would be notified, Nuju was pretty sure he wouldn't be bothering his child anymore.

After being tucked in, and a story later, the kids were fast asleep. Nuju had to laugh lightly as he looked down at the bed Matoro was in. Nuparu was sprawled halfway over Matoro, as if trying to protect him, his mouth open slightly with a tiny dribble of drool. (34) Honestly, the cuteness of it outweighed the grossness of it, as well as any jealousy he felt.

Nuju shook his head and sighed. The day seemed to end too soon for him. Tomorrow, his shift would end, and he'd have to wait until his turn came again. It couldn't come sooner…

He sat on the edge of the bed, gently stroking Matoro's head briefly before smiling.

"Sleep well little one." He placed a light peck on his forehead and stood up, intent on leaving the room for his own bed.

However, before he left, Nuju noticed Matoro's drawings were still out on the nightstand. He picked them up and looked through them all.

Again, that familiar sensation he was sure was going to kill him one day returned…

One picture was of a man in green with the legs of a spider, Matoro himself drawn with a sad face, seemingly hiding behind his bed. Another was of a large, burly white creature in what looked to be the closet. Again, Matoro was in it, but he seemed to be laughing at the creature. And finally, the last picture was of a man with dark blond hair dressed in gold and red, sporting a staff and shield, sitting on a very familiar lounge chair and smiling. (35)

Nuju had to take a moment to make sure his vision was working, wiping off his glasses and rubbing his eyes before looking again. Unbelievable…

But…then again…

'_Perhaps my child is just gifted…' _He thought with a small smile. He wasn't much a believer in the paranormal, but with all he's gone through in the years…well, he'll just say nothing's impossible.

He looked back at Matoro, who was long since still asleep and twitching slightly in his sleep, as if he were dreaming.

Nuju chuckled. He was so adorable. And after today, Nuju could see so much more in him. This gift of his was given to him by Mata-nui. And without a doubt, a great destiny awaited him. And like any parent, Nuju only hoped he could watch him grow a little more before life swept him away into an adventure.

He looked back at the picture of the red and gold man. He smiled slightly and made a mental note to ask Matoro if he could have it in the morning…

X~X~X~X~X~X

"So…nothing…happened?"

"Not a thing. Aside from Jaller's little tantrum. But other than that, just a normal day."

"…nothing…blew up? Got destroyed or maimed?"

"No, not a thing."

"…nothing…happened?"

Nuju rolled his eyes in annoyance as Vakama seemed to unintentionally repeat himself. Honestly, was it so hard for them to believe he was capable of taking care of things himself? Was it really so difficult to comprehend that, despite rumors, he was relatively _good _with kids? (36)

"You sound shocked." He said sarcastically.

"Well…erm, it's not that I doubt you, no, it's just…nothing…_happened._ At all!" Vakama rasped, the others nodding in agreement.

Nuju sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He decided to make this brief since Vakama was starting to repeat himself. He wasn't in too great a mood at the moment to humor them.

"Look, I appreciate the concern, but all in all, everything is _fine._ Nothing blew up, nothing got maimed, and for once, Dume didn't throw a hissy fit, much to my relief. Now if you don't mind, I believe it is Nokama's turn to babysit?" Nuju said.

"Uh, oh, right, yes, it is." Vakama said meekly.

"…no but seriously, _nothing _happened?" Onewa asked, still unconvinced.

Nuju gave him a blank frown before sighing and crossing his arms.

"Well, if you want proof, why don't you take Nokama's shift for her and see how you handle it, hm?"

"U-uh, no, I'll pass!" Onewa said a little too quickly.

"Whatever. Well, they're all inside now, and unlike _someone_, yes, I fed them breakfast…" Nuju shot Matau a glare, "So they should be fine today."

"That's good to hear. I'm honestly not as surprised as I should be Nuju. I only hope they behave as well around me as they did you!" Nokama said cheerfully. Although secretly she was mentally trying to block out images of Nuju and his adorable child-turned Matoro.

"Yes, well, I doubt you'll get into any kind of trouble. You're a far cry from these morons, so I have no doubts they'll behave."

"HEY!"

"Anyways, I'm off. A certain blond headed demon kept me up last night…" Nuju said, not bothering to wait up for the others, and started to leave.

But as an afterthought, he paused as he remembered something.

"Oh, and one last thing Vakama…" He dug into his coat pocket, producing a folded up piece of paper and giving it to the fire Turaga, "A gift from Matoro. Did it all by himself without any help or description."

Giving a smug grin, Nuju left, leaving a slightly confused Vakama in his wake.

"What was that all about?" Whenua asked.

"Who cares? What did the little tyke draw-color for you?" Matau asked excitedly.

"Not sure…" Vakama said. He carefully started unfolding the paper, flipping it over to see the picture.

His eyes widened and his heart throbbed. This was…

"H-…how?" he rasped, the others looking over his shoulders to see.

"Is…is that…?" Onewa started.

"Wha…? N-no way, it couldn't be, I mean…" Vakama paused, looking up at the Coliseum window that led to the kids' room.

In it, he could see Matoro playing with his penguin, before he paused and looked outside, as if sensing Vakama's gaze. He smiled and waved down at them.

And right behind him, Vakama swore, he could see the silhouette of a staff wielding man with a shield, smiling down at them…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X

_EDIT: Ugh, damn deleted my division lines. But anyways, to clarify, the X~X~X~X~X~X signifies a jump forward a few hours into the future. ~x~x~x~ means a flashback or past events_

_First of all, I would like to say…_

_**I AM SO SOORRYYYYYY! ! ! T~T**_

_I know this was late beyond late, but I had hit a serious writers block and was in the middle of real life shiz! I know I should have updated this WEEKS ago but I couldn't!_

_It was…this chapter was, shockingly, the hardest to write so far, despite it being the one I thought would be the easiest! It had my favorite characters in it, and I usually write them so easily! But this time, I guess I had such an overload of ideas for this chapter, it kind of backfired and blew up on me. I'm not kidding, I had AT LEAST ten scenarios for this chapter and how it would go and end, but this one stood out among them! So uh…yeah…_

_And I promise, I __**SWEAR TO GOD**__, I WILL update Mata-chatroom soon! The insert-chapter is almost done, as I said, I had hit a writers block, and I kind of mucked up some of the parts since I wasn't paying too much attention. It just needs to be revised and such! I promise! D8_

_Please forgive me! It will not-…ok, I can't promise this won't happen again, cause chances are, it will happen again. It's one of the cons of being a writer, so like HELL I'm promising it won't happen again!_

_Erm, but to get sympathy points, I now have a hair line fracture on my Tibia, and a twisted ankle from a little accident involving some black ice and an escaped cat. So…yeah…_

…

_Now, I am going to go run and hide from the wrath and weapons you are all no doubt waiting to unleash upon me. *runs*_

_Again, I am so sorry!_

_1)- 'snow-rabbit' or 'snow-bunny' is Matoro's commonly referred nickname by Matau. Both as a grown Matoran, and even now. Although now, he doesn't mind it as much as he would as a grown boy. XD_

_2)- this can easily translate to, 'GTFO so I can coddle and cuddle and squeal over my baby damnit!'_

_3)- Jaller, AKA 'the attention brat'. XD Every group has one!_

_4)- And reality makes a perfect strike into Nuju's head! Ten points! 8D_

_5)- Let the record show, that despite popular belief, some kids can be really polite, despite their age. People say it has to do with how they are raised, or simply their personality. _

_6)- Dun dun dun! Its Papa bear Nuju! XD_

_7)- In out last chapter, Dume gave the Turaga exactly one week to get the kids out of his home and either find new living arrangements, or turn them back to the way they were. Now they get a week and three days to do either of those two. Hopefully an extra five days if they get him drunk enough. XD_

_8)- Mask power or not, it isn't healthy to completely let it become an ingrained habit in your life. Get off your lazy butt and get things yourself! XD_

_9)- OMFG its the 'why' game, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!_

_10)- nuju used 'Death Glare'. It has no effect! D8_

_11)- insert rimshot, here._

_12)- SOMEONE! GET HIM A PONY!_

_13)- Meeeeeeeeeeelt~_

_14)- Cherub; A tiny, childish, and very cute angel. Sometimes described as a chibi angel._

_15)- Again, fact. Constant sleepiness in a young child can be a significant sign of a weak immune system, or the body preparing to go into a growth spurt._

_16)- MATH? HAHAH. WHAT'S THAT? IS IT YUMMY? 8DD_

_17)- Nuju was taking pictures of Matoro in his new outfit, in case that wasn't at all obvious. Also...sailor suits are F***ING adorable! 8D_

_18)- You can NEVER outgrow the classic PB and J. I'm 18 and I STILL enjoy one from time to time. My mom eats them as a snack, and my dad has his with extra peanut butter. It's the everlasting comfort food!_

_19)- It...really would..._

_20)- A cartoon Air-Toa on their favorite TV show. He possesses the mask of friendship! 8DD_

_21)- LOL classic..._

_22)- Peanut butter in one ear, Jelly in the other. Jelly to the left~ Peanut butter to the right~! XD_

_23)- Children, without a doubt, are the masters of reverse psychology._

_24)- Inconclusive theory, but imaginary friends are most commonly seen in children that are socially awkward or targeted by bullies and isolated from their peers._

_25)- Pft, forget the fridge, this guy's got a whole room full of Matoro's drawings! XD_

_26)- Invisible wizard YEAH! 8D_

_27)- Lots of little kids are naturally very possessive of their friends. Often times they will single out one individual who has shown compassion towards them and latch onto them. This can result in them becoming too possessive and not allowing them to interact with other kids._

_28)- Pft...juju...you all know you saw this coming. XDD_

_29)- Holy sh** Nuju's patience has left the building. RUN! D8_

_30)- Fact; kids can be VERY mean to one another. Also fact, is when they are caught doing something bad, they seem to realize just how much trouble they are in and only then realize the consequences. They do not think things through, nor consider the consequences until they reach a mature age._

_31)- I should probably explain that the Coliseum is made up of suites. They are currently in the 'living room', and connected to that is the bedroom, the exit, storage, and a sitting room, which is where Jaller was sent. Just to clear that up._

_32)- parents are often conflicted when their child interacts with an imaginary friend, especially so openly._

_33)- I...had to back away from this scene FIVE TIMES to stop myself from having some kind of squealing/embarrassed breakdown from mental images..._

_34)- SO F***ING CUTE..._

_35)- Cookies to those who can figure out who these peeps are!_

_36)- Anybody wanna answer that? No really, I'll give you cake if you answer him to his face! XD_

_**Fact of the Paranormal.**_

_Children are often highly susceptible to the unusual and paranormal. Some theorize it is because they are so innocent and tend to pay attention to the unusual and out of place. Many kids will eventually outgrow their gifts, but a select few will go through life interacting with this power of theirs. Some reject it and fall into a deep fear of their own self, while others embrace it and use it to help others by becoming paranormal experts or psychics. Many kids have been said to be able to communicate with lost relatives acting as their guardian angels._

_However, this gift can be dangerous. Children have been reported to communicate with demonic presences, completely ignorant of their evil ways. Other kids were said to communicate with poltergeist and other negative entities. And while some may get away, they are extremely vulnerable to dark influences. _

_Whether is just a sixth sense or something off in a quiet old house, or actually seeing someone long lost, this power will either stay with us forever, or eventually fade away as our sixth sense starts to numb._

_~Me, for a report on paranormal theory for writing class._


	13. Nursemaid Nokama

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 13_

_Nursemaid Nokama._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure! ?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ Uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh …*Cross eyed, drooling, hits play button on recorder* Hi! This is Mazula, if you are listening/reading this, then it means my brain has died during the process of updating (insert fic title) for you all. Please pay no attention to my brain-dead body and enjoy the update! *body falls over, still drooling*_

…_just enjoy the update featuring Nokama already so I can keel over and go to bed. T-T_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Nokama was known for many things from her years of life…

She was a kind, dedicated teacher during her Matoran years. She was a brave and noble Toa during her hero days. And she was a compassionate, pleasant woman as a Turaga. She has taught, fought, and preached wisdom throughout her life, and so far, that was all she ever really needed to get through in her rather fulfilling life. Quite simply, she was very accomplished and achieved numerous curriculums throughout her life.

…sad to say, babysitting was not on this list of curriculums.

Not to say she disliked or was bad with kids! Quite the contrary actually. She has more than once babysat for a friend or even a student at times. The only problem was, was that at the time, she was young and more energetic. And the kids during those times had been older and slightly more independent. Now, however, her charges were not even old enough to read or pronounce certain words correctly; her name was included in the vast list of words, and they had taken to calling her 'Kama'. (1) 

But back to all seriousness at the moment, and with her natural habits kicking in, Nokama was giving a few pre-school lessons to the kids to both A, pass the time, and B, satisfy her own instincts to teach others. Add to that, it may actually do them some good; they may have once been grown Matoran, but that didn't mean she should sit by and let their little brains rot in their current state. They needed stimulation, not mind rotting TV. (2)

As such, she now finds herself attempting to give the kids a small lesson in pre-school level teachings.

Now, we say 'attempting' with emphasis here…

"Kongu, no! That is not something you put in your mouth!" Nokama scolded, quickly retrieving a triangle shaped block from the little blonde's mouth. (3)

She was starting to reconsider teaching them to identify shapes. Who knew blocks could end up in such…creative places? She was still trying to figure out HOW Nuparu managed to wedge a star shaped block into the ceiling vent…

"Gimme!" Kongu whined, reaching for his block.

"No Kongu, blocks are not food. If you are hungry, I can make you something, okay?" Nokama reasoned gently.

Kongu agreed, though grudgingly with puffed cheeks. Though with the thought of possibly getting a snack in mind, he toddled off to play with the others who also managed to escape from Nokama's 'class'. (4)

Watching him go off, she shook her head with a sigh. Honestly, kids these days…

"Kama!"

Turning to her charge, Nokama knelt down to the little pig-tailed Ga-Matoran at her feet. Said Ga-Matoran was looking rather teary eyed, she now seemed to notice.

"Hahli dear, what's wrong?" Nokama asked gently, picking up the little girl that was starting to sniffle.

"Ja took Octapauly an won' give 'er back!" Hahli whined.

"Did he now?" Hahli nodded her head franticly and clung onto her babysitter, burying her face into her shoulder.

"Well we'll just have to get her back now won't we?" Nokama said, scanning the room for the rather assertive redhead.

And finding him near the play area with the mentioned stolen toy (Nokama had long since learned all of their favorite toys' names) (5) she strode over with Hahli in tow.

Honestly, she thought Jaller learnt his lesson on behavior during Nuju's shift. Though, sad to say, she wasn't as surprised as she sounded. Boys were naturally stubborn. Ta-Matoran boys were even more stubborn, not to mention hotheaded.

"Jaller…" She started, catching the Matoran's attention.

Looking up at Nokama, Jaller's cheeks puffed, seemingly knowing he had been ratted out. It wasn't his fault though. He wanted Hahli to play with him!

"Jaller dear, will you please give Hahli her doll back?" Nokama asked gently.

Jaller, in response, puffed up his cheeks more and hid the stuffed toy behind himself, as if he could hide it in plain sight with its light blue tentacles sticking out on either side of him. Some of their toys seemed ironically bigger than the kids…

"No!" He pouted.

Hahli whined and clutched Nokama a bit harder, her lip quivering. She wanted her Octy back! Nokama quickly calmed the little girl by gently bouncing her in her arms, fixing Jaller with a firmer gaze.

"Jaller, please give it back to her. Can't you see its making her upset?" She explained.

Jaller, still stubbornly refusing to relinquish the toy, glanced up at Hahli. She indeed did seem distressed and saddened that he took her favorite toy. But how else was he supposed to get her to play with him? She never liked playing with him much, except with Matoro or sometimes Nuparu. It wasn't fair! What did Matoro do to get her to play with him? He was boring!

Debating for a while in his head, Jaller finally relented. Stepping aside, he held up the stuffed toy by one of its tentacles stubbornly, gaze locked onto the floor in defiance.

"Fine…" he pouted.

"Thank you Jaller." Nokama set Hahli down so she could retrieve her toy.

On her feet now, Hahli shyly approached Jaller, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Once she was in range, she carefully reached out and took hold of one of the tentacles of her toy and tugged it slightly. The toy fell with a slight 'fwump' to the floor, Hahli soon pulling it up to be hugged to her tiny torso as she hid the bottom of her face into its egg-shaped head.

"There now, what do you say Hahli?" Nokama encouraged.

"Thank you…" She muttered shyly, one tiny foot kicking the floor lightly and cheeks turning a tinge pink.

"Jaller?" Nokama turned to the red-head.

"Sowwy…" He said, still refusing to look at Hahli or Nokama.

The water Turaga smiled enduringly at the children and their colorful personalities. Jaller could be so stubborn, but it was enduring none the less to see him simmer down and relent. And Hahli was certainly a lot different than she remembered her to be. She was always shy, yes, but also such a headstrong and confident young girl. It was a bit daunting to see her like this.

"Hey…" Hahli looked up at Jaller as he muttered the word, blinking her sunshine yellow eyes curiously.

"Wha?" She cooed, tilting her head.

Jaller didn't say anything at first, but after a moment, his pout soon broke into a mischievous grin that seriously confused Hahli at first. But she didn't have to ponder very long as he swiftly reached out and grabbed one of her pigtails.

"Owie!" He yanked it harshly and then bolted for the bedroom before Nokama could scold him.

"Jaller!" Nokama snapped, frowning after the retreating toddler that would later disappear either under one of the beds or the closet.

But she let it go for now in favor of comforting a rather distressed, and very confused, Hahli who had landed rather painfully on her bottom from the harsh tug. Not to mention the pain of having her hair pulled. She hid her face in Nokama's neck as she was picked up again, whimpering audibly.

"Shh, it's alright Hahli, he's gone now." Nokama soothed, petting the little girl's head to hopefully sooth some of the pain.

Hahli looked up at her with wide, teary eyes, her toy clutched tightly in her arms as she sniffled.

"Why Ja hate me?" she asked.

Nokama sighed and shook her head, mentally smiling to herself. If it was one thing she knew, it was that Jaller certainly did not hate Hahli. In fact, it was quite the contrary. She's seen this behavior before, and had long since been subjected to it when she herself was a little girl. Boys bullying her, bugging her, pulling her hair, taking her things, it was all just so he could have her attention. (6)

"Sweetie, Jaller doesn't hate you." Nokama reassured, turning to sit at one of the couches with Hahli in her lap.

Said Matoran quickly wiped her face of tears and looked up at Nokama, "But…he hurts me! An' takes my toys! An' he won't leave me alone…" she whimpered.

Nokama couldn't help but chuckle, "Hahli dear, he does all those things because he _likes _you."

Hahli was now severely confused. He liked her? That didn't make sense at all! He was always pushing her, teasing her, hurting her, taking her toys, and everything! Wasn't that supposed to mean someone didn't like you if they hurt your feelings? She didn't get it!

"But…he hurts me…" Hahli tried to explain, unsure.

Nokama, again, had to restrain herself from smiling. Of course she wouldn't understand; Hahli was just a toddler right now. She would not be able to comprehend the power of emotions until she was older or back to normal. Until then, she was just a naïve child that saw the world as it was physically with its many colors, sights, sounds, and smells.

"It only means he wants your attention. He just doesn't know how to ask for it _nicely _like some others do." Nokama chuckled.

Hahli blinked, still a bit lost. But then again, it _was _hard to ignore someone when they pulled your hair, so it kind of made sense in her childish mind. But it still made little sense. The other boys, like Matoro, were so nice and sweet to her. He never took her things or pulled her hair, and they both liked each other. It made no sense!

"Wha…?" She cooed again, her expression utterly clueless.

Nokama couldn't stop the giggle from escaping her person, _'She's so adorable!' _

"Think nothing of it dear. You'll understand when you're older. Now run along and play with the others while I make us lunch, okay?"

"Okie!" And just like that, all problems were forgotten and Hahli was released back into her play area. (7)

Nokama shook her head in amusement. Children were so easily amused and so forgetful of past problems. She was slightly envious of their naivety.

Nokama later left the kids to play so she could get started on their lunch. She was at first apprehensive about leaving them alone, but seeing as they were all quite subdued and ingrained into their own things, she figured she could leave them be for a while. It really didn't take that long to toss a few chicken fingers and tatter-tots into an oven for a few minutes after all.

While Nokama tended to their lunch, Hahli decided now would be a good time to go and play with someone; preferably someone who wouldn't steal her Octopauly. Or yank her hair. Or laugh at her. Or…

Hahli frowned slightly at the mental implications. The empty drawing kiddie table was becoming awfully welcome right now. However, a small tuft of white and baby blue to her right caught her eye.

"Matty!" She called, toddling over to him.

She blinked however when he gave no response. He was simply lying on the flood over his penguin plushie while pouring over a coloring book. Blinking her sunshine yellow eyes, she crossed the rest of the distance between them and looked him over. He was breathing, but he wasn't moving.

"Mat…?" She poked him slightly, which caused him to tilt slightly over his penguin and reveal just why he wasn't responding.

His eyes were closed. His mouth was slightly open with a tiny dribble of drool falling out, his breathing was soft, and she now noticed his left foot was twitching. He was sleeping. Wow. And it wasn't even naptime! (8)

She giggled and poked him again, watching him squirm and shift so he was rolling over his penguin until only his upper torso was up and everything else was lying on the floor. Now propped up on his stomach, Hahli could plainly see that he was, in fact, in a deep sleep.

She laughed again, though held her hands over her mouth so she wouldn't wake him. That would be rude! Though, unable to really help herself, she reached out and touched some of his soft blue-white hair. It was very soft and light, and almost as long as her own. It was really pretty too! Just like Nupu said!

Pausing as a thought occurred to her, she looked around. Kongu and Hewkii were playing with their Toa action figures, Nuparu was dismantling what looked like a toy car, and Jaller was, thankfully, distracted by the TV.

Hahli turned her head towards the pile of 'girly toys' as Hewkii had called them. And in that pile was what she would need to use for her next activity…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Nokama shut off the heat to the oven as the timer went off. After slipping on a pair of oven mitts and taking the tray out of the still heated oven, she picked up a few plates and trays and began plating. In all honesty, she would have rather cooked them a proper meal, not a frozen lunch from a bag. But, apparently when you're a child, freshly cooked food was the bane of your existence, and Rahi shaped chicken tenders won out over everything. And vegetables. They all absolutely _hated _vegetables. (9)

'_And I'm surprised?' _She thought, shaking her head to herself. Honestly, what kid didn't hate vegetables?

Despite this though, Nokama had the decency to at the very least include some baby carrots and sliced bula fruit into their lunches as well. It wasn't likely they would eat them, much less so the carrots, but it was still a courtesy.

Kids were so picky these days, but they were still cute without a doubt.

Chuckling to herself, she set up the table, made sure their so called 'highchairs' were stacked properly, and then made her way over to their room.

"Kids, lunch is ready!" she called.

Not even two seconds later, the sound of rapid tiny feet pattering against the floor reached her ears, soon joined by the excited squeals of the hungry tots.

"Yaaaaaaaay!" They all cried as they trotted into the kitchen and impatiently waited to be picked up and situated in their seats.

"Up! UP!" Kongu demanded, hands waving above his head as he bounced in place.

Nokama couldn't help but chuckle at his eagerness and quickly put the kids in their respective seats. But as she stood back to make sure they were all eating, she noticed something a bit off…

Blinking once, she counted the kids to make sure she was seeing right. No, she wasn't imagining it. She was seeing right.

Two kids were missing. More specifically, Hahli and Matoro.

"Boys…" She started, catching all but Kongu's attention.

"Where are Hahli and Matoro?" She asked, a bit concerned. Spirits above, she hoped they didn't sneak off and get into trouble…

Jaller was the first to respond, although it wasn't very helpful. He simply puffed his cheeks up and threw his fork down, crossing his arms with a pout. Hewkii had started to laugh, Kongu was too enraptured in his Rahi-shaped food, and Nuparu seemed to be the only one to give a real answer. Although muffled as it was with a full mouth…

"Pwitty 'n 'ahli 'r pwayin'!" He muffled through a mouthful of tatter-tots. Nokama vaguely noted he seemed to be the only one who ate all of his vegetables and fruit. (10)

"Playing?" She asked to clarify.

"Yep!"

Oh, well then that wasn't too bad. They must still be in the playroom and were perhaps too caught up in their play to realize it was time to eat. And judging by the way Nuparu was eyeing the two spare plates, she had better get them in the kitchen soon before they didn't have anything to eat…

Quickly making up her mind, and filling Nuparu's plate with the left overs so he would be distracted, Nokama quickly made her way to the kids' playroom to get both Hahli and Matoro for their food. She expected to find them most likely drawing and coloring, maybe even watching TV.

She wasn't, however, expecting _that…_

That, being Hahli standing over Matoro with various hair scrunches, hair ties, clips, and doll barrettes all fastened chaotically into the Ko-Matoran's hair. Numerous braids, tails, and 'trees' stuck up and out of the sleeping Matoran's white head while he remained completely oblivious. Including the numerous ribbons and colorful clips, Matoro looked ridiculous, even in his sleep. (11)

And of course, Hahli just happened to be the one playing 'hair salon from hell' with the oblivious toddler.

And Nokama did only what any other sensible person would do when they see such a thing. She cracked up. Hard.

"Hahahahahahaha! Ho-ho Mata-nui…! Hahahahahahaha!" Bent over slightly and holding her stomach, all the while trying in vain to stifle her laughter, Nokama was definitely a sight. Not as much a sight as Matoro, mind you, but still a sight.

Hahli, meanwhile, just now seemed to notice her babysitter in the room and swiftly turned her head over when she heard the first snort. At first, she was startled to see Nokama so suddenly. Then she felt somewhat afraid that maybe she was in trouble for playing dress-up with Matoro without his permission. Then again, Nokama did seem pretty amused…

"Hehe-! Oh Hahli dear…" Regaining herself as much as she could, still wearing a humored grin, Nokama straightened and made her way towards the confused Matoran.

"Hahli, what are you doing to him, silly?" She asked lightly.

Hahli fidgeted with a hair band for a moment before replying shyly, "Nuffin'…'m I in twouble?" She asked nervously.

Nokama seemed to consider her for a moment, glancing at Matoro's still sleeping (how is it he can sleep so deeply, she thought) form before shaking her head and looking back to Hahli.

"No sweetie, but next time, perhaps you should ask before, ah…doing this." She said.

"Okie!" Hahli chirped, happy to be let off with only a small warning.

"Wazz happenin'?"

Both of the Ga-residents turned to the door, seeing the other four kids enter, Nuparu with an armful of what were no doubt Hahli and Matoro's chicken fingers and tatter-tots. Nokama made a mental note to make some more for the other two…

The kids caught sight of just what had made their baby sitter laugh so hard to get them to all get up and investigate. And honestly, who wouldn't laugh at _that? _

All at once, the four kids doubled over in laughter, Nuparu inevitably spitting out his chicken in the process of laughing and dropping the rest. And as if finally realizing he wasn't alone, Matoro opened his eyes blearily and looked around, catching sight of his hysterically laughing peers.

He sat up to rub his eyes. His head felt funny. And why was everyone laughing? Even their babysitter was laughing, and Hahli just seemed confused. Not that he felt any different, but still!

"Wuzz so funny?" He cooed, looking around and thus causing his many hair accessories to rustle and sway. The kids only laughed harder, but Nokama seemed to compose herself once again and kneeled down to him.

"It's nothing sweetie, but I think we should get you fixed up." She said, picking up the small toddler.

Again, Matoro is confused. Fixed up? Was he dirty? He wasn't broken was he!? (12) And why did his head feel funny? It felt like…like…it was weird!

After calming the kids and sending them off to play, Nokama took Matoro to the bedroom to take out the numerous hair accessories and clips, setting him down on a bed. And after watching a bunch of clips and ties being produced from his head, Matoro seemed to put two and two together and pouted.

"M'not a girl!" he whined.

"I know, I know Matoro. She was only playing though." Nokama said, referring to Hahli.

Matoro only continued to pout, though patiently waited for Nokama to finish untangling his white-blue tresses from the clips and ties. Nokama smiled enduringly at his adorable expression; it was no wonder Nuju adored the child so much, both as a grown Matoran and as he was now.

The thought brought a slightly pained expression to her face however. It was a shame really. Matoro was an orphan after all, and from she had gathered from Nuju long ago, he wasn't treated very kindly. His parents were dead-set on making him into a famous scholar. He was barely allowed time to experience his childhood, much less make friends and do things that kids were supposed to do. Instead he was forced into studies he had not a single interest in. And once he had become of older age, he stood up and refused his parents' wishes and went on to study Rahi. But the end result was heartbreaking; his parents practically disowned him and left Metru-nui without a trace, even going as far as to erasing Matoro himself from any files associating with them. (13)

Nokama couldn't help but sigh and shake her head, mentally shaming the people that dare called themselves his parents. Hahli was in a similar situation as well, but her parent's didn't abandon her. Her father was a soldier during the Dark Hunter's war and had died in battle when she was small. Then her mother fell to illness when she was a child, and later went to live with her grandmother. She had died as well, but only after Hahli was old enough to live on her own at least. (14)

'_Perhaps this is Mata-nui's wait of allowing them to experience their childhoods again?' _She thought.

"Kama?"

"Yes?" She acknowledged the little Ko-Matoran before her.

"I'm hungwy." Matoro said.

Nokama blinked in confusion, before remembering that both he and Hahli had in fact not eaten lunch today. And if her suspicions were correct, Nuparu had already eaten their portions while they were away during the fiasco. Fabulous.

"Don't worry little one, I'll make you and Hahli something to eat in a moment. For now, go on out and play with the others, alright?" She said.

"Okie." Now free of the numerous colorful hair clips, Matoro scampered off to play with the others.

Nokama smiled and shook her head before once again vanishing into the kitchen to make the other two kids' meals.

By around dinner had passed, and the kids were put to bed, Nokama allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed babysitting was a rather balanced combo of exhaustion and enriching enjoyment on her part. She couldn't deny it; she loved kids, especially these kids. As annoying and troublesome as they are, she could not deny her own maternal instincts. She had always wanted kids after all, but never got around to marriage, let along dating when she became a Toa! (15)

Sometimes she regretted not getting into her own life while she could, but she honestly wouldn't do it over. Taking care of an entire village was practically taking care of a bunch of kids in itself really.

Tucking the last of the kids in, Nokama stood back to make sure everyone was present. All were accounted for thankfully, so now she felt safe to go to her own room and sleep.

"Kama?" a tiny voice called.

Nokama turned towards the bed the tiny call came from, staring over at a pair of sunshine yellow eyes that were looking up at her shyly. Nokama walked back to the bed and sat on its edge by Hahli, stroking her head.

"What is it hun?" She asked.

"…" Hahli merely fidgeted with the blankets and looked away shyly. Nokama tilted her head to one side slightly.

"What's wrong sweetie? Do you not feel well?" She asked, now a bit concerned. But Hahli shook her head, much to her relief, and looked up at Nokama with a tiny tinge of red on her cheeks.

"Kama…can I call you mama?" she asked shyly. (16)

Nokama felt what she could describe as a ball of warmth and endearment drop into her stomach at the question and the innocent, shy expression on Hahli's face. She had just asked her if she could call her 'mama'. Was she dreaming? Did she hit her head? Did Matau get her to eat more of that questionable fruit he got from an equally questionable merchant from another town again? (17) It seemed more realistic.

But this obviously wasn't the case, as since she wasn't receiving an answer, Hahli was beginning to squirm uncomfortably and fidget more.

"Hahli?" Nokama started, trying with all her might to keep the stupid and proud grin off her face.

Hahli promptly screwed her eyes shut and hid under the blankets with a whine, shaking her head frantically. Nokama couldn't help but laugh lightly as she dug the Matoran out from under the blankets and hug her.

"Silly girl, of course you can." She laughed, nuzzling the little girl's now staticy hair like a young girl that found the world's cutest puppy.

"Reawwy?" Hahli asked quietly against Nokama's shoulder.

"Of course sweetie, nothing would make me happier." Nokama kissed the tiny Matoran's cheek and hugged her tighter, now unable to hide that stupid grin on her face as she cuddled the cute little thing.

"Waaah, mama squishing!" Hahli whined, squirming a little in Nokama's arms.

Now seeming to realize how ridiculous she was most likely acting, Nokama quickly loosened her grip and apologized to the now drowsy Ga-Matoran. After reassuring herself Hahli was alright, she tucked her back into bed, kissed her forehead and wished her a goodnight.

"Sweet dreams dear." She whispered, watching the little girl's eyes droop closed and into a deep sleep.

Nokama turned out the table lamp and quietly crept to the door, glancing to the kid's one last time with a smile before she left the door cracked open slightly and went for her own room.

This has definitely turned out to be a very perfect day and event. She'd always wanted a daughter…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Mama?"

Nokama simply smiled proudly and nodded to her colleagues, plus Dume, unable to disguise the tiny blush that spread across her face. Nuju seemed to be the only one who wasn't giving her a disbelieving look, but was in fact looking a bit smug.

"Pay up idiot." The icy Turaga said with a smirk, holding his hand towards Matau. Said green Turaga sighed and promptly handed over fifty widgets. (18)

Somehow, Nokama wasn't surprised, but she was a bit miffed that she was used as a product under a bet. But anyways…

"That aside, they behaved rather well, and all that's left now is for Onewa to take his shift here." She said.

Almost all at once, the Turaga all turned to the brunette Turaga, all of which was staring back at them all as if he had been kicked in the kiwis. Obviously, he was not anticipating this, despite him being the only Turaga that has yet to babysit the kids…(19)

"Well Onewa, you heard her. You're up." Vakama said, almost sounding sympathetic. Whether it was sympathy for the kids or Onewa himself was unknown…

"Yes, and on that note, Onewa, may I speak to you for a moment?" Nokama asked pleasantly.

"I wish to speak with you as well." Nuju added, grabbing Onewa by the arm and dragging him off onto the other side of the courtyard with Nokama in tow.

Vakama looked to Whenua, "Think this will turn out alright?"

"Honestly? No." Whenua said.

"Maybe we should do something else?" Matau suggested.

"Like what? Have _Dume _babysit?" Vakama asked. Dume fixed him with a stern look at the remark while Matau looked a bit nervous.

"…point heart-taken."

Once the discussion as over, Nuju and Nokama came back with a rather pale looking Onewa with them.

"What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." Vakama said.

"Or Matau in a speedo again." Dume added. (20)

"Will NO ONE let that go already!?" Matau cried indignantly.

Nuju rolled his eyes, "As long as we're in agreement, shall we all go now?" he asked.

Agreeing, the others made sure all was in order before leaving Onewa to his duties. As they watched them leave, Dume leaned over to Onewa with a smug smirk.

"They threatened to disembowel you if you did anything to the kids, didn't they?" he asked.

"Disembowel, dismember, and I think Nuju threatened to castrate me as well if he found a single hair out of place on Matoro's head." Onewa muttered miserably. (21)

Dume blinked. Wow, tough crowd, he thought. Poor bastard. He shrugged and went inside while Onewa headed for the kids' room.

And just as he opened the door-

"YAY!"

SPLAT!

He immediately wanted to go home. It seems the kids had gotten a hold of the little cups of jel-o from the fridge and piled it all onto a slingshot that they procured from god knows where. Matau seemed to come to mind at the moment. And now he had a giant glob of multicolored jel-o running down his face and head. Joy.

This was going to be a long day…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

_Uuuuhhh…I seemed to have used all of my brain capacity to write up a proper A/N. Fantastic. …_

…

_Alright, now for the ass-kissery._

_People, I have a life outside of this site and DA. And though it may not seem like it, I do in fact have other things to do. Yes, I should be updating more often, and granted I'm hating myself for not updating in months! But let's get some things straight here…_

_I __**DO NOT **__**OWE**____you all ANYTHING. Even less so a fricken chapter update. I also DO NOT condone being THREATENED by an IMAGINARY PISTOL to update in my reviews. I also do not take lightly to DEMANDS for updates. It's immature and stupid, if anything, it makes me update SLOWER. I'm already running low in self-confidence, which is right now dwindling since I am absolutely HATING how this chapter turned out, the last thing I need is to add in more self-draining gratification from my readers of all people for a __**FUCKING UPDATE. **__Okay? See this? *gestures to air* I need air sometimes. I need to BREATHE as well. So I need off time sometimes. And you see this? *gestures to buried desk* I have other work things to do too. Excuse me for trying to meet deadlines. Now lastly, you see THIS? *gestures to ass* START. KISSING. NOW._

_However, to those of you who WAITED PATIENTLY, I sincerely thank you all._

_And that's all. I'm tired now. Going to bed. Ugh…_

_1.) Let the record show that they are at an age where they are unable to pronounce certain words. lol_

_2.) Kids, if you have spare time on your hands, do something else other than watching hours of TV. It's not good for you to sit around all day and watch Degrassi (god I hate that show SO HARD...)_

_3.) And here we see Kongu has a mouthing issue. lol_

_4.) Fact. Nokama was in fact a teacher when she was a Matoran. I imagine she has kind of a 'teaching instinct' even after that._

_5.) As kids, you ever noticed how your mom seems to know the names of your favorite toys and where to always find them? This applies here as well. Show your mom (or dad) some love guys! Seriously!_

_6.) Seriously, all the boys who I have known at that age have always picked on me only because of wanting attention. And I don't even know why! I'm not event hat appealing! Geez!_

_7.) Kids honestly seem to just jump right back up after a bad experience. It's quite interesting really._

_8.) In case you haven't noticed, Matoro has a knack for falling asleep randomly at times when it's quiet enough._

_9.) I have yet to meet a kid who likes veggies. Seriously._

_10.) Let the record show that in this fic, Nuparu is a lil piggy. lol_

_11.) My brother did this to me once when I was little. I just woke up one day and found all my hair up in little 'trees'. Then he did it to himself to make me and my parents laugh._

_12.) HOMG HE'S BROKEN! D8_

_13.) What's this? Possible plot? HAHAHAHAHAH! FROM ME? NEVER! HAHAHAHA! No but seriously, I find the scenario quite fitting. In my lil verse, Matoro is in fact an orphan that was disowned because he didn't want to lead his life by his parents' expectations._

_14.) Likewise for Hahli, she isn't an orphan per say, but her parents both died when she was young, and was close to her grandmother._

_15.) Nokama really does seem like the mother type. This is just my way of clarifying it. lol_

_16.) Number of times I squealed when I wrote this part: 5. Number of times I had to get back and scream into a pillow due to cuteness: 8. _

_17.) Don't ask..._

_18.) Nuju bet Matau that at least one of the kids would start calling Nokama, or referring to her as, mama._

_19.) God help us..._

_20.)...don't ask..._

_21.) Translation: YOU HURT MAH BABEH AND I KEEL YEW._

_REVIEW PLEASE!_


	14. Nursemaid Onewa

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 14_

_Nursemaid Onewa._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ HAHAHAHAHA. AN UPDATE? WHAT'S THAT? DOES IT MAKE DELICIOUS? 8DD_

…_yeah I'm gonna skip out on the A/N here. Please enjoy the fic._

_And now, as for this update…_

_This chapter is important because it will mark a TURNING POINT! YAY! What kind of turning point you ask? Well, you'll have to read on and wait for the next chapter to find out. I will say however that it is entirely Onewa's fault though. And guess what? The Rahaga will be making an appearance soon too! 8DD YAY!_

_So look forward to it people!_

_Oh, and by the way, to those of you who are still wonder __**who it was that Matoro saw **__during his ghost-experience, here they are (in order)._

_Ihu._

_Lihkan. (Seen and mentione din picture.)_

_Krekka. (Mentioned in picture)_

_Nidikki. (Mentioned in picture)_

_Oh, and to those of you who think I'm a 'Ta-Matoran/Toa/whatever' hater, lay off. I'm being REALISTIC here. Kids can be very nasty sometimes, even to their peers. It's not a vendetta against them people, I just know they are a more naturally aggressive sort, and kids in general are impulsive and act on emotions. Combining that with Ta-Matoran blood is just as you saw it already, so lay off already. Geez…_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Onewa was a 'referee' kind of guy. (1) He was a good-natured person, but he was also a bit judgmental and blunt. 'Brutally honest' is what many would consider him, and although he was of a rather jovial nature, he still carried the reputation of being a stone-hard head. No pun intended. He was also sarcastic to the point of acting like a Ko-Matoran.

And sadly, with these kind of personal qualifications, he wasn't that great with kids, despite that promise he made to his mother about having a few one day.

He is also known by many to be a good liar, but in reality he's just so disgustingly sarcastic it's hard to tell if he's being honest or not. And he is one of the best poker players in the entire world. His 'stone face' in poker was legendary. (2)

But, aside from the judging, the stony mask, the honest brutality, the sarcasm, and, well, Onewa being Onewa, he was a good…well, he was a decent…ah...

…yeah, he was now going to add 'perfect babysitter' to his list of positives!

…notice the sarcasm here.

Onewa didn't like kids.

Onewa _especially _didn't like _these _kids!

"Damn it all Kongu, if you do not get down from there, I swear by Mata-nui's name and on whatever grave your grandmother is buried in, I will bring out a cannon and knock you off myself!"

"Bllvvvvv!"

Now if only he could find a cannon lying around, then he would be happy. But no! He gets a room full of toddlers, which he is supposed to be stuck with for twenty four hours, and one of said toddlers has managed, _Mata-fricken-nui only knows how,_ to end up dangling from the _ceiling fan_.

'_How is that even possible!?' _he thought. (3)

He didn't bother asking aloud though; past experience has taught him that random, and more often than not, logic defying happenings like this are one of the many trademarks of your average Le-Matoran. Notice the word 'average' here. If he were above 'average', then he would be in trouble, if not trying to find ways of murdering the little hellion.

But anyways, the point here still stood that he was not happy now that he had to pry one of his damned charges off of a _ceiling fan_ of all places!

Which is how he found himself standing atop a stack of three books, which were stacked up on a rolling chair, and trying to reach for the giggling hellion. Now, obvious fact here is, is that standing on a chair and books is not a smart idea. Even more obvious fact was standing on a chair with _wheels_ and books is just flat out stupid. (4)

Even the kids seemed to know this. But all in all, it was quite interesting to watch their current babysitter try to get to Kongu…

"Onwa being silly…"(5) Hahli muttered to herself, cuddling her Octopauly.

"No, Onwa being dummy-head!" Jaller laughed.

"We help?" Nuparu asked.

"Hmm…" Jaller contemplated this for a while, wondering if they should in fact help.

Meanwhile, Onewa was getting nowhere in his quest to dislodge Kongu from the ceiling fan. If anything, it seemed like the ceiling was getting further away. And it didn't help that Onewa hadn't bother to turn the fan off before trying to grab the rotating brat.

"Damn it all Kongu, GET DOWN!" He snapped.

"NYAH~!" And his response was, once again, a tongue as Kongu made a passing over Onewa's head.

"I swear to god Kongu, if you do not get down this instant, I'm going to-DOH!"

Onewa's vision was suddenly obscured by the pair of shorts Kongu had, miraculously, unfastened from himself and slapped onto Onewa's face. Now unable to see, Onewa struggled to free his face from the confinements of the toddler's pants. (6)

But with all his struggling and uncoordinated footing…

"Get these-! **GAH!**"

CRASH!

"Oooh…" The kids all winced as they watched Onewa take a very painful plunge to the ground, back first.

They all looked up to the ceiling fan and at Kongu, who was dangling by one of the fan blades in nothing but a shirt and his undies, and still spinning. The Le-Matoran grinned, looking quite proud of himself.

"YAY!" he cried, letting go of the ceiling fan…

"Ugh, what the fu-DOH!"

And promptly landed harshly onto Onewa's stomach, once again knocking the wind out of him before he promptly passed out. Kongu quickly got up and skittered towards the others.

"I gots the key!" He sang, showing the others a small copper key in his small hands.

And it was quite obvious to what it went to. The others eyed the almost always locked door to the hallways.

And like the curious little buggers they were, they couldn't resist…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"…wa…Onewa…ONEWA!"

"Wha…?"

Vision fuzzy and head spinning, Onewa was having a bit of a hard time focusing on the dark red blotch obscuring his sight. Odd, what was a red blob doing here? Why did his head hurt? Or better yet, why did _everything_ hurt? Wasn't he supposed to be babysitting the kids?

Wait…the kids…_kids…_

"ONEWA!"

"GAH!" Onewa sat bolt upright and knocked his forehead into Dume's.

"Augh! You son of a-! What the hell are you doing!?" Dume snapped, rubbing his now bruised forehead as he glared at Onewa, who was just now recovering from both the collision and falling.

"Ugh…what am _I _doing? What are _you _doing? Ugh, my head…" Onewa grit out, clutching his fingers into his hair.

Dume growled at the brunette Turaga and got up from his kneeling position on the ground. He was at first rather concerned when he went to check up on Onewa and the kids and found said Turaga unconscious and splayed out on the floor. But now he couldn't help but hope he was suffering from a concussion!

"Well I _was_ enjoying my evening before I decided to be a bit selfless for a moment and come check up on you and the kids." Dume said snootily.

"Pft, you? Selfless? Since when?" Onewa asked with a snarky grin, which soon fell and was replaced with a frown, "Wait, did you say…evening?"

"Believe it or not, I _can_ be _somewhat_ nice when the occasion calls for it,"(7) Dume said, "And yes, it is evening. Why? And where are the kids?"

Onewa suddenly forgot his own pain. A sudden sinking feeling plunged into his gut as he averted his eyes to the clock on the wall to his left. It was exactly 2:45 PM. It was 10:22 AM when he was trying to…pry Kongu off of the ceiling fan? What the hell? Wait a minute…

'_I've been knocked out for four and a half hours…?'_ He thought.

Dume watched the expression on Onewa's face go from angry, to confused, to shocked, and then settled onto utterly horrified. Dume seemed to recall that the door he thought was supposed to be locked 24/7 had in fact been unlocked.

Unlocked door, plus Onewa's expression, minus the kids, multiplied by Onewa's confusion on the time, divided by the fact he was found unconscious on the floor, equals one big fat _oh crap_. (8)

AndDume was _not surprised _at all_…_

"…you lost the kids, didn't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"…"

"Your silence just means you did."

Onewa's response was a delightful hand gesture…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Meanwhile, halfway across the Coliseum, the mentioned missing kids were wandering yet another hallway. This one wasn't as dark and dank as a few others they went through, but it was still pretty gloomy.

"Ja, where we goin'?" Hewkii asked their fearless leader.

"We goin' outside!" Jaller said, as if it was the most obvious answer.

"You said dat ferever ago…" Kongu whined, lagging behind the others. He had been complaining about his feet hurting and how tired he was pretty much from the moment they left their room. Ironic considering how much energy he supposedly had…(9)

"We're almost there!" Jaller argued.

"You said that FEREVER ago!"

"Ugh…"

Jaller decided now would be a good time to ignore his half-naked comrade. He was thankful at least Nuparu, Hahli, and Matoro were being quiet…

Actually…they were _too _quiet…

Jaller suddenly stopped, causing Hewkii, who wasn't paying attention to where he was going, to walk right into him, and Kongu to bump into Hewkii.

"Ja, why'd ya stop?" Hewkii asked.

"We rest now? M'hungwy!" Kongu whined. (10)

Jaller didn't answer, instead keeping his gaze locked on to the back of the group. Hewkii and Kongu, noting his shocked expression, looked back and blinked.

"Kongu…?" Hewkii started nervously.

"Yeah…?"

"Where Matty, Nupu, and Hawi go?"

"I dunno," Kongu said, turning to a very startled looking Jaller, "Ja, where they go?"

"…"

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Meanwhile, down a left corridor, down two right hallways, up a flight of stairs, past three rooms, through another left hallway, and just past the weird statue of some kind of two headed Rahi, found Matoro (with his plush penguin), Hahli, and Nuparu wandering by themselves.

They all had long since noticed they had accidently separated from Jaller, Hewkii, and Kongu, but they weren't about to simply throw themselves on the ground and start howling like panicked toddlers. That would be dumb. (11)

Now if only they could retrace their steps and find the others. Or better yet, find something to eat…

"We came dis way alweady!" Nuparu whined, "Wight?"

"I dunno…" Matoro shrugged, his eyes somewhat clouded and dazed. He was pretty much just following the other two on autopilot; he was tired and hungry after all…

They eventually all approached a door, though where it went, they could only guess. But it definitely wasn't that scary red man's office. His door was bigger and had a fire logo on it. And they had all (at least the three of them) learned it's a terrible idea to approach him. He was a scary meanie…

"What we gonna do Hawi?" Nuparu asked.

"It's Hahli…" Hahli corrected irritably.

"Hawi?"

"No! HAHLI!"

"Hehehe, pwitty?"

"NO!" (12)

Off to the side, Matoro was still a bit out of it. He wasn't really registering their (rather one-sided) argument. More or less he was in la-la land and was reviewing the situation in his head in a bored manner. What were they doing here anyways? How long had they been wandering around? He was hungry. Where was papa? Where was Onwa? He was bored. Were Jaller and the others okay? Did Onwa hurt himself badly when he fell? His feet hurt. This was a bad idea. What were they thinking? This was dumb. (13)

Still a bit out of it, Matoro lifted his penguin up to his face, staring at it blankly.

"What we do Puck?" he asked. (14)

No response from its beady black eyes. Not surprising really, but still, he was hoping that maybe THIS time his toy would talk.

Because toys are people too! And they can talk! And they can feel! And they can- (15)

…oh. He's here again…

"Say 'Haw-lee'." Hahli said slowly to Nuparu.

"Haw-we?"

"Urgh! NO!"

"Hoo-lee?"

"NO!"

"HEY!"

Hahli, who was about to pounce on a grinning Nuparu in frustration, stopped what she was doing and looked over at the suddenly very aware Matoro. Nuparu was also stunned into looking at him. Since when was his pwitty so loud? He didn't even think he knew _how_ to yell!

"Wha…?" Both asked, stunned.

Matoro gave them both quite a cutely disapproving look with crossed arms. He puffed his cheeks before pointing up to the suddenly open door, which seemed to lead into a kind of garage slash warehouse of sorts.

"Oooooohhhh…" Hahli and Nuparu oohed, their eyes wide as they gazed at all of the complicated, fun looking contraptions in the huge room.

Hahli suddenly blinked though as something seemed to register in her head.

"Matty," She started, "How'd ya open the door?"

"Yeah! Yer not tall 'nough!" Nuparu added. Matoro decided to ignore his statement and picked up his penguin.

"Kwekka opened it fer us." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. (16)

The other two blinked, cocking their heads. Kwekka? Who was Kwekka? They didn't see anyone else here! And they were sure they would have seen someone tall enough to reach a doorknob a good foot and a half out of their reach.

"Who Kwekka?" Nuparu asked, looking around, as if trying to find this mystery person. Matoro blinked and averted his eyes to the ceiling, as if thinking. Or staring at someone taller than him…

Blinking slowly with a glazed look in his eyes, he looked back at Hahli and Nuparu before smiling brightly.

"Let's go inside!" he said excitedly.

"Okie!" And with their short attention spans, Hahli and Nuparu easily forgot about this 'Kwekka' person and went inside…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Onewa…" Dume started, both he and the mentioned brunette tiredly walking down yet another hallway, "I really don't think shaking a bag of crab treats is going to get them to come out…"

"Well I don't hear _you _coming up with any bright ideas!" Onewa snapped, a bag of crab treats in his right hand. (17)

Apparently it was a good idea to the gruff Turaga. Well, next to squeezing a squeaky toy that is. Dume had to actually stop for a moment and try to figure out just _where _Onewa got all these pet supplies, and _why _he had them to begin with…

"Listen you, I may not have any good ideas, but I know for a fact, that _these…_" Dume snatched the bag of Crab Mix (18) treats from Onewa's hand, "Are not helping!"

"Well then think of something you old fart!"

"You're not exactly a youthful individual yourself, you hypocrite."

"I'm still younger than you though."

"Point. Proven." Dume hissed, tossing the treats off to the side. Let the rats have them, he thought.

Onewa snarled at Dume, but otherwise ignored the arrogant fire Turaga and got on his way looking for the kids in the stupidest places. Said places consisted of ceiling fans, air ducts, and trash cans. Although, the air ducts were kind of a justified place to look, but still, all in all, it was stupid.

Eventually, the two had practically turned the entire Coliseum upside down and still found no sign of the kids. Chances are they had passed them more than once and simply missed them, but they refused to get into an argument about _that_.

So for the past few hours, they had not succeeded in finding the kids. And five out of ten times, Nuju drags the others to the Coliseum earlier than expected to switch shifts and to see Matoro. Onewa was having a sinking suspicion that it was going to be like one of those five times…

'_Spirits save me…'_ he thought bitterly.

He checked his watch and mentally cringed. It was now a quarter to five; the sun would be going down soon, and if he didn't want a repeat incident with a Muaka, then he and Dume had to find the kids, and find them _now_.

"Damn it all to high hell and back…" he muttered, slamming the door to yet another cupboard shut.

Dume, the lazy bastard, was seated in a chair off to the side, glaring a hole into the wall across from him. It was hard for Onewa to tell if he was just being lazy, or actually trying to think of where the kids might be. Onewa hoped it was the latter; because despite how much he was irritated with Dume now, he knew Dume was a rather brilliant man. His father and grandfather were detectives after all; it was in his blood to figure these things out. (19)

'_Now if only he could get off his lazy ass and HELP ME!'_ Onewa thought, his brow twitching.

"Dume…" He started.

"Hm…" Dume grunted, his gaze unfaltering.

"Don't you think it would be good if, oh, I don't know, you HELPED ME!?" Onewa snapped.

Dume, at first unresponsive, averted his eyes slowly to Onewa and simply _stared _at him through narrowed slits. (20)

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I'm going to check the closet now." Onewa said.

"You do that."

Onewa had the urge to throw something witty at Dume, but knew better than to piss off the hostile yet calm man. It was bad enough he managed to tell Onewa off by just _staring _at him, he didn't need to be humiliated by verbal abuse. Though he really did need to check the closet…

And check it he did.

"GAH!"

Dume watched with mild interest as his brunette colleague was buried under a pile of junk that had inevitably collapsed from inside the closet. From broken parts, to trinkets, to books, to equipment, fuzzy pink bunny slippers, and a rubber ducky, one would be quite proud of this random assortment of junk, if not for the fact that it would possibly kill them.

Although, Dume couldn't help but wonder when he purchased a pair of fuzzy pink bunny slippers and a rubber duck…(21)

"No kids?" He asked casually.

At first there was no response, but after a few moments, the pile of junk started to shake. And not even two minutes later, Onewa burst forth from it with a rather intimidating cry of irritation, his expression murderous.

"When I find those kids, there is going to be HELL to pay!" He snapped, his hand unconsciously squeezing the squeaking life out of the rubber duck…

"Nuju and Nokama won't exactly allow you to do anything drastic." Dume said calmly.

"I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS! When I find those brats, I'm gonna-!"

SQUEE~!

"ACK-!"

Dume watched as Onewa fell back and clutched his throat and swore up a rasped storm. Apparently it's not a good idea to squeeze the very squeaker out of a rubber duck. It might just launch out and plunge down your throat…

"You alright? I am NOT doing CPR on you if you're choking…" Dume said.

"Augh! Listen you, I- _hic-squee!_" Onewa slapped a hand over his mouth as the shrill, indignant _squeak _left his mouth, much to his sheer horror. (22)

Dume however, was finding it _very _difficult in keeping a straight face. The best he could manage was a vague smirk and bite his lip to keep it from going further. His shoulders shuddered briefly before he crossed his arms and raised a brow.

"Well obviously they are not in the closet." He said.

"State the obvious you mother-_hic-SQUEE!_" Onewa flushed a few dozen shades of red and shouted indignantly to the ceiling before punching a hole through the nearest wall.

Dume decided to let him off for the damage since he was proving to be so entertaining.

But anyways, in all seriousness, he was honestly just trying to figure out some way of finding the kids. This just wasn't right; as big as the Coliseum was, it shouldn't have been _this _hard to find them. They would have left some clues, like spilt or broken items, maybe a toy or two, or better yet, find one or two of them stuck somewhere. It was far too quiet too. You'd think at least one of them was in some kind of distress and start calling for help…

'_It doesn't add up…' _He thought.

The Coliseum was huge, but it was also deserted and quiet as death. Dume had gone through some serious paranoia during his first few weeks of living alone here, and the slightest noise put him on edge before he got used to it. The scariest part was that more often than not, the thing that would make the noise would turn out to be nowhere near him, but instead be a simple echo of something falling, or maybe a rat, a few hallways away. (23) It took him weeks to 'train' himself into getting used to such noises, and only cured himself of his paranoia after he reactivated those security cameras and-

Onewa, now done with his tantrum, seemed to take note of Dume's expression. It was once one of serious, deep contemplation, but was now slowly morphing into an utterly dumbstruck look with wide eyes and a straight lined mouth.

Onewa blinked, raising a brow. Well if this wasn't rare, if not odd, he would be laughing at his expression. But considering the circumstances (and that he was pretty sure that if he laughed, it would come out as squeaks) and the odd place in expression, he frowned.

"What?" he asked, keeping his words short.

Dume's stupefied expression suddenly turned sour, and his brow twitched. Onewa stared at him, slightly stunned. Was Dume…pouting?

"What is it?" he tried again.

"…"

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"No, dis way!"

"No, I said DIS way!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

Kongu's head swiveled back and forth between the two arguing toddlers. Both of which were standing in front of a fork in the hall. Said Matoran were _debating_ on which hallway to go down next to hopefully either A, find the others. B, find some food. Or C, find their babysitter and/or Dume and run for their lives if either A or B does not happen.

And honestly, Kongu wasn't interested in either A, B, or C, but rather, he is hoping for P.

P as in potty break.

Cause he had to _go!_

"Jaaaaaaaaaa!" Kongu whined.

"What!?" Jaller and Hewkii said irritably.

"I gotta go potty!" Kongu whined, doing a bit of a dance with crossed legs.

Jaller and Hewkii stared at their blond companion before groaning. Great, on top of being hungry and lost, they had to find a bathroom for their younger companion. (24) Oh joy…

Actually, now that Jaller thought about it, he could have sworn they passed a bathroom not too far back. So now it wasn't much of a question as to where to find one, as to who was going to take him…

"Hewkii!" He started in his usual 'I'm the leader' tone, "Take Kongu to potty!"

"Wha!? No! You take 'im!" Hewkii argued.

"No! You!"

"No! You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"YOU!"

"YOU!"

"AAAAAHHHH! I gotta GOOO!" Kongu cried, bouncing in place.

"FINE!" Hewkii threw his little arms up and stomped over to Kongu, grabbing his hand and leading him back towards the way they came.

While they did that, Jaller was left to wait…by himself…in the middle of a hallway…alone…all alone…

No, no! He was brave! This was nothing, Hewkii and Kongu would be back in no time. But then again, Kongu looked like he really had to go, so he could be a while…

No! He would be _fine!_ Like he said, he was _alone_, no one and nothing was here to hurt him. He wasn't in any danger! He just had to sit tight and wait for Hewkii and Kongu to-

Whirrrr…

Jaller paused, eyes widening. What was that?

Hearing it faintly again, Jaller realized it was coming from above his head in the corner. Looking up, Jaller scanned his eyes over the ceiling and the corner of the hallway. And instantly, his eyes caught sight of what it was…

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Throwing all thoughts and caution to the wind, Jaller jumped and fled down the left hall, screaming the whole way to escape the monster he saw.

Back up in the corner, the cobweb covered mass with the blinking red eye and gaping mouth swiveled to the right, causing the webbings to tear and fall off. The red 'eye' turned out to be blinking power light, and the 'mouth' turned out to be the camera lens…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"I CANNOT believe you forgot you have security cameras all over the Coliseum!" Onewa snapped.

"Will you shut up about that already!? You've been whining about this for the past fifteen minutes." Dume snapped back, adjusting the monitor in front of him as he typed away at a keyboard below it.

"Just hurry up and find the kids!" Onewa snarled, crossing his arms as he practically hovered over Dume.

"Yes, your royal pain-in-the-ass-ness…" Dume scoffed, hitting a few more keys.

Onewa decided to ignore the jab and instead focused his attention on the large monitor above them. Most of the screens showed nothing but static, but with Dume working on things on the keyboard, they were all starting to clear up and show images from numerous parts of the Coliseum.

Once all screens were cleared, they revealed all black and white images of hallways, rooms, corridors, and other such places, including some on the outside and the courtyard. Though some of the images were obscured with cobwebs, dust, and dirt from lack of use in the past few months or so.

"Hm? Was that Jaller just a moment ago?" Onewa asked, pointing to the rather dirty imaged screen.

"I don't think so…" Dume said, unsure. He adjusted the controls on the specific monitor, making the camera shake off the dust and webbing. But once it was cleared, whatever it was they saw was gone.

"Could have sworn it was him…" Onewa muttered.

"It was probably just a rat or something. It certainly ran like one." Dume remarked, adjusting more cameras.

Onewa shrugged before leaning over Dume's chair to look into the screens. He honestly reminded Dume of an eager child watching a brand new episode of his favorite show with how close he was to the screens.

"Is this all of the cameras?" Onewa asked.

"No, this is only one half of the west wing," Dume said, "I'm turning on the second half…"

A few keystrokes later, and another monitor to their left flickered to life. Again like the first set, the screens were obscured by cobwebs and dust, but not as badly as the first set.

And it seemed lady luck was smiling down on them if what they were seeing on monitor 72 was anything to go by…

"There!" Onewa exclaimed, pointing to the numbered monitor that was being recorded in what looked like a garage of some sort.

"Matoro, Hahli, and Nuparu," Onewa said, "But I don't see the other three."

"They might have gotten separated," Dume said, "But at least we found three."

"Where is this at? A storage unit?" Onewa asked, cocking a brow curiously.

Dume relocated his gaze to the chart hanging on the back wall, all of which contained all of the monitor numbers and the names of the places they were recording in.

"72 is…" Dume's eyes scanned the chart before he found the number, "The storage warehouse."

"Storage?" Onewa asked.

"Originally it was a garage to hold event and competition vehicles for races," Dume explained, "Now it's being used to store the empty Matoran pods and the vehicles you and the others used to transport them."

"The Vahki Transporters?" Onewa asked, a bit surprised. (25)

"Yes, although I am unsure if they still work or not," Dume said, "Thankfully the pods are useless, so if one of them were to fall into one, they won't be harmed."

Onewa let out a silent sigh of relief. He honestly hadn't thought about that, but since Dume mentioned it and reassured him, he was glad nothing bad would happen if the kids decided to crawl into one. They were already tiny and under the effect of what those pods did to them once, he didn't want to think about what would happen to a Matoran if he or she were affected by a pod twice. (26)

"What should we do? Go get them?" Onewa asked.

"You go and get those three for now," Dume started, "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the screens and call you if I see the others." He said, digging into a drawer to his right and pulling out two handheld radios.

"And if we don't find them?" Onewa asked, taking one and turning it on.

"Well then…we'll just say it was out of our hands and take our chances." Dume said, none too happy with the idea.

Onewa sighed and slumped. Well, it wasn't like they had much else to say if they didn't find Jaller, Hewkii, and Kongu. He might as well jump off the Coliseum if they don't find them before the others arrive…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Meanwhile, as shown on the screen of Dume's camera, Matoro, Hahli, and Nuparu were having a very nice time exploring the giant room full of contraptions and trinkets. They were especially having fun with the big round things they could hide in!

In fact, currently they we replaying hide-and-seek, with Nuparu counting. Or trying to anyways.

"One, two, fwee, four, five, um…" Nuparu paused, thinking to himself. (27)

"Six!" Matoro called from somewhere in the pile of pods.

"Oh! Wight! Six…um…"

"Seven!"

"Oh! Seven! And, um…" Nuparu pouted to himself. What came after seven!?

Well, no accounting for cheating a little bit, he supposed…

"…a bazillion! Weady er not, here I come!" he called, toddling around the piles of junk to find his friends.

While on the other side of the warehouse a few meters away, too far away to hear him, Jaller came in through a large crack in a door, looking a bit frightened. He surveyed the room and whined. Where was he now? Why did he have to run away like a scaredy-cat!?

"Weady er not, here I come!" he suddenly heard, and quickly recognized the voice.

'_Nupu!' _He thought in relief and excitement.

He was in the room! But he would have to find him though. Who was he talking to anyways though? The others maybe?

Well, whatever the case, he had to get to Nuparu, and possibly the others if they were with him, and find Hewkii and Kongu again. This whole thing had gone way too far, even for him! They were no doubt going to be punished for being gone for so long, and he didn't want to be in any more trouble the longer they were gone.

"Nupu!" He called, toddling into the room and into a random direction into the maze of junk and objects.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Kongu! Huwwy up!" Hewkii called from behind the door to the bathroom.

"M'not done!" Kongu called from behind the door.

"You been in there ferever!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Hewkii groaned and slumped onto the floor against the wall, crossing his little arms with a pout. Kongu was taking FOREVER in there! He didn't think it would take such a long time for one little Matoran to pee. Hewkii was starting to wonder if he fell in or something…

"Eh?" Hewkii suddenly perked up and looked down the hall to his right where he thought he heard something.

Yes, there it was again. It sounded like…footsteps?

Frowning, he got up and toddled carefully to the end of the hall until he was at the very edge. Leaning against the wall and pressing his ear to it, he could make out the footsteps coming down the hallway to his left. He carefully, slowly, peeked half of his face around the corner to see who it was, wondering if it was Jaller or one of the others.

"Eep…!" He squeaked before coving his own mouth and whipping backwards.

It was that big dummy Onwa! And he was coming this way…!

"Kongu…!" He whispered shrilly, bolting towards where his companion was _still _going potty.

He rushed up to the door and started knocking quietly yet urgently on it.

"Kongu…! Ya need to come out…!" He whispered harshly.

"Not yet!" Kongu called back.

Hewkii had the unsightly urge to palm his forehead like he had seen their other babysitters do on occasion. But now wasn't the time for hitting himself! The footsteps were getting closer!

Hewkii looked down the opposite hall, but it was a dead-end! There was no way out except down the hall where Onewa was coming from or the bathroom!

Hewkii whimpered as Onewa's footsteps got even closer, his tall shadow creeping up past the edge of the suddenly very narrow hall. Bathroom with a pantsless Kongu, or towards a mean babysitter?

Really, it was like asking what two plus two was…though he had no idea what the answer was, but still!

And throwing all caution to the wind, Hewkii jumped up to the door, grabbed the handle, and flew on in before quietly slamming the door shut.

"Phew…" He sighed, leaning against the door and pressing his forehead to it.

He waited as he heard the footsteps come to settle right in front of the hall he was just in, pause for a brief, yet agonizing moment, and then move on. Hewkii breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down onto his bottom for a breather.

"Hewkii!"

"EEP!" Hewkii jumped and spun around to confront whoever had said his name.

However, he wasn't exactly expecting…well, something like what he was seeing now. But it certainly explained why Kongu was taking so long in the bathroom…

"I'mma mummy!" Kongu sang, flailing his toilet paper covered arms around. (28)

The toddler was completely wrapped in what looked to be about four or five rolls worth of toilet paper. And the room itself was practically TP'd with ten rolls worth of the tissue. It looked like Kongu had tried to mummify the toilet itself as well…

"…wha?" Hewkii sighed, a bit baffled.

"Rawr! I'mma eat yer brains!" Kongu proclaimed, rushing over to tackle Hewkii. (29)

Seeing the 'attack' coming, Hewkii merely sighed and side-stepped the clumsy Le-Matoran and stepped on one of the ends of tissue trailing behind him.

"EEP!" Being stopped by a foot on one of his 'mummy wrappings', Kongu found himself tripping towards-

CRASH!

An air duct. Lucky the duct cover was old and brittle, so it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should.

"Eh?" Hewkii said, rushing over to look into the duct his companion was half lying in and just recovering from the impact.

It was a bit dark down the duct, but it was also another way out instead of the hallways Onewa was no doubt still patrolling. And when he looked down far enough, he could see a very faint light down the left end of the duct!

"Kongu! Yer a genius!" He cheered, hauling his wrapped companion up with a grin.

Kongu merely blinked dumbly, before the praise sunk in and his face split into a very proud grin. He was a smarty! Yay!

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Nupu!" Jaller called for what had to be the millionth time.

He had been wandering around the maze of junk for about fifteen minutes now, and still he had found no sign of Nuparu or any of the others. He was getting a bit irritated now, not to mention tired. His feet were also starting to really hurt…

"Nupu…!" he let out large breath and slumped, now thoroughly exhausted.

There was no way he was going to find him like this. He was tired, his feet hurt, he was out of breath, and now his throat hurt. And he had no idea where he was. Great…

"Urgh…big…dummy…JUNK! AUGH!" Jaller snapped and kicked the nearest pod to him, thus hurting his already sore foot and making him hop on one foot in pain.

"Ja?" A little shy voice called.

Jaller immediately stopped his hopping and froze, swiftly turning over to the pod he kicked. Was it…talking to him? Why did it sound like Hahli!?

"Hahli?" He said, uncertain.

But his uncertainty was put to rest when the hatch to said pod was suddenly pushed open to reveal the little Ga-Matoran inside.

"Ja?" She said again.

Jaller stared at her for a long moment of stunned silence, before his face broke into a relieved grin and he forgot his own pain.

"Hahli!" He cried happily, jumping up and tackling the little Ga-Matoran back into the pod.

"Meep!" Hahli cried in surprise, before she started laughing adorably as Jaller hugged her tight and started babbling to her.

Not too far off from the happily reunited pair, Nuparu was once again having no luck in finding his friends. He had long since called out that he had given up, but they either couldn't hear him or left the room. He doubted it was the latter, but he was getting a bit nervous now…

"Matty? Hawi?" he called again, looking under a tarp covering a pod. He was pretty sure he checked every single pod in the warehouse, but dropped the notion when he stumbled upon a few dozen more.

Nuparu whined and kicked a pebble dejectedly. Where was Hahli? Where was his pwitty!? He wanted to see pwitty right now darn it!

Clank!

"Eh?" Nuparu paused and looked up on the small pile of pods stacked into a pyramid. It sounded like someone was moving around in the very top one…

Thinking it was probably a Rahi or, if he was lucky, one of his friends, Nuparu set out to climbing the mighty mountain of pods to reach the top.

Once up, he hauled himself up to peek over the open hatch, gripping the edges tightly so he wouldn't fall over.

And right inside, curled up on the moderately cushioned bottom of the pod, was Matoro. Sleeping like a baby and cuddling his penguin with his thumb in his mouth, completely oblivious to the world in favor of his nap. (30)

He was so cute! And pwitty!

"MATTY!"

"Eh? AH!" Matoro woke up and yelped as he was suddenly tackled by Nuparu.

However, with both of them tumbling and struggling around in the pod, they somehow managed to dislodge it from the rest of the pile…

"Eh?" Startled, both felt the pod rumble a bit as they rocked back and forth.

And before they knew it, they had tipped over the edge of the pile and were rolling down the steep pyramid like a metallic ball.

"Eeeeeeeeeep!" They all yelled as they were tossed and tumbled around like clothes in a washing machine…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Eh?" Hahli paused beside Jaller in their trek to find the others, looking around.

"Wha is Hahli?" Jaller asked.

"Do ya hear dat?" Hahli asked, looking around.

Jaller blinked and listened, but didn't hear anything at first. But he frowned when he heard what sounded like…a bouncing ball? No, it was too metallic. Or maybe…?

"Huh? AH!"

"Wha-AH!"

CLANK!

"Wheeeee!" Nuparu cheered as the pod was launched off a ramp-like formation before it was plunged down and landed, hatch side down, onto the ground.

Which shockingly had also picked up Hahli and Jaller! Now all four of them were tumbling around in the still rolling pod like a whacky ride!

"Hi Ja! Hi Hawi!"

"It's HAHLI!"

Nuparu just laughed hysterically while the others yelled and tumbled, not at all enjoying the ride…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

"Are we dere yet?" Kongu whined for what had to be the hundredth time.

"We get dere when we get dere!" Hewkii snapped.

Both he and Kongu were crawling down the air duct space they had stumbled upon, and following the trail of light that would hopefully lead them outside, or to another room. They at least hoped they would find one, or all, of the others soon…

"…how bout now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No!"

"Now?"

"NO!"

"Now?"

"URGH!" Now beyond frustrated, and irritated at the smug grin on Kongu's face, Hewkii lost it and turned around to leap at Kongu…

"AH!"

And inevitably knocked them down into a downwards shaft vent.

Sliding down in various loops, humps, and cork-screws like a chaotic slide, both Matoran seemed to forget about where they were going. Hewkii was screaming in terror, but Kongu was laughing hysterically from the fun ride.

They would have made Hahli and Jaller proud of their air duct sliding skills.

"FASTER~!" Kongu cheered.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Hewkii screamed.

"Wheee~!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Hehehehehe-eh?" Kongu looked ahead of them over a screaming Hewkii's shoulders and sweat dropped, "Uh-oh…"

It seems they neglected to remember the number one rule of air duct sliding; always watch out for vent covers…

Clang!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH!" both cried as they burst through the vent cover and plunged downwards through what looked like a giant garage…

And what looked like a giant metal ball.

"EEEEEKK!" Both shut their eyes tight as they prepared for impact by the giant ball as it spun so its hatch was facing them.

Catching them inside it harmlessly, it crashed against the back wall and bounced backwards, carrying the kids clear across the large warehouse.

"Kongu!? Hewkii!?" All four kids exclaimed in shock.

"Hi~!" Kongu greeted, while Hewkii just screamed and clung onto the very amused Le-Matoran.

The kids all yelled as they were suddenly lifted from the fall of the pod and pined to its 'ceiling', unaware of their destination just below them…

CRASH!

"AH!" Now landed, the kids crashed painfully into the bottom of the sphere. Thankfully the cushioned bottom made their fall much less dangerous than it would be had the pod not been a bit upholstered.

"Uhn…owie…" They all groaned, giving their own protests of having 'owies' and 'boo-boos'.

"Ugh…" Jaller crawled halfway out of the pod and hung over the hatch ledge, his face pale from dizziness and a bit of nausea, "Wha happen…?"

"YAY! Do again!" Kongu cheered form inside the pod, where he was sitting on top of a rather traumatized looking Hewkii.

"Ge' off…!" Nuparu, who was at the very bottom of the pile of kids, rasped.

"WHA!" The kids cried as Nuparu hauled himself up and practically threw the other kids out of the pod and onto what felt like a metal deck.

Groaning from pain and a few bruises, they all sat up on their little rumps and looked around.

They were, in fact, on a metal deck of what appeared to be some kind of large, beetle-shaped vehicle with a storage 'shell' behind them, and a driver's area in front of them. Their pod had landed smack dab in the middle of the deck just in front of the door leading into the storage unit. All of which had honeycomb shaped storage slots on either side of its walls; they were the perfect size for the pods they all found scattered around the garage. Instead of wheels to help it move, it had four bug-like legs on each side, giving it a very beetle-like appearance and shape. (31)

"Ooooohhh…" they all said in awe, getting up to explore various parts of the machine.

They all wandered into the cargo hold of the Vahki Transporter, awed by the huge space inside of it and the pod-sized hidey-holes within the walls.

Well, except Kongu and Nuparu, both of which seemed much more fascinated with the many colorful buttons and switches in the driver's seat.

"Wooooow!" Kongu oohed, hopping up onto the swivel chair of the driver seat.

He grabbed the steering wheel and started mirthfully turning it this way and that while making engine noises, pretending to have what sounded like a race with some imaginary opponents.

Nuparu, however, was much more interested in the wires, components, and parts just under the dashboard of the driver seat. Ignoring Kongu, he got on his hands and knees and crawled under the small space to get a better look at all the colorful wires and parts…

"Vrooom! Vroom! Beep-beep! Comin' through! Outta the way! Toa Petepan comin' through! Whoo-hoo!" Kongu cheered.

Nuparu rolled his eyes playfully at Kongu's antics before he came upon a very interesting cluster of wires. Two of them were broken though and tied off and away from the others. How odd…

Nuparu sat up on his knees and pulled up his shirt, grinning at the abundance of tools he managed to snatch from all around the garage and slip into the waistband of his pants. Looking at each in turn, he selected what he liked to call the 'pinchy thing'. (32)

Grabbing each handle with either hand, he used it to grab both wires and pinch them together. The reaction was almost immediate.

"Eh?" Kongu stopped his pretending to look down at the numerous buttons and switches, most of which were flickering weakly with lights.

Nuparu had also noticed the reaction, as well as the very brief tremor beneath them from the engine. He seemed to put two and two together at the reaction and grinned.

If he touched the wires together properly, he could turn it on!

He set his pinchy-tool aside and grabbed both wires with his hands. Looking to each in turn, he slowly brought them together…(33)

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

BANG!

"What the-!?" Onewa jumped back and yanked his hand back from the door leading to the warehouse. He stared at it in shock from the loud crash.

Blinking owlishly with wide eyes, Onewa quickly unstrapped the radio from his belt and flicked it on.

"Dume, what the hell was that!?" He snapped.

"_I don't know! The camera isn't working anymore!" _Dume said over the radio.

"Not working? How did that happen?" Onewa asked.

"_I don't know! The last thing I saw on the screen was…I don't know! What looked like a Matoran pod being launched right at it!" _Dume responded, unsure. (34)

Onewa decided not to comment on how stupid Dume's proclamation was. It was too easy…

"Yes, well, while you go looking for flying Matoran spheres, I'm going to find the kids." He said.

"_Oh shut up and get in there! Who knows what they're doing to my stuff in there?" _

"You wouldn't have to worry about your 'stuff' if you weren't such a damn pack-rat…" Onewa muttered.

"_I heard that!"_

"Whatever, just be quiet so I can-"

KA-BAM!

Okay, banter time is over, time to see what was happening, he thought. Grabbing the handle of the door, Onewa threw it open and rushed through, only to stop and stare at what he was seeing.

Somehow, someway, the kids had managed to _hot-wire _one of the long since deactivated Vahki Transporters. Said transporter was ramming against the door leading to the outside like an angry Kikanalo, and right at the helm of the Transporter was none other than Kongu and Nuparu.

"What in the…? What are you-!?"

Too late.

**KA-BAM!**

The door now rammed down, the Transporter sped off into the fading light of day and to parts unknown at top speed, carrying the kids with it…

Onewa was simply left standing there with the utmost astonished, dumbfounded expression on his face. His jaw was practically on the floor, and his eyes were as big as Hafu's ego.

And either he didn't notice or he was ignoring him, but he was oblivious to Dume rushing up beside him from no doubt hearing the near explosive sound of the garage door being broken down.

"What…what the HELL just happened here!?" Dume rasped shrilly.

Onewa was unable to answer. All he knew was that he was going to die when the others showed up and he had to explain that their kids had just rode off in a Vahki Transporter…

Oh _joy_…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

_Ho-ly crap, such a long chapter! 29 full pages people! w Well, on with other projects and to get ready for my move to California!_

_1.) Onewa is, in fact, known as a 'referee' in a few Bionicle based Wikis!_

_2.) I really do see him being an excellent poker player next to Dume XD_

_3.) It should be quite obvious by now that Kongu is VERY capable of defying all logic in his stunts._

_4.) Guys, be smart. Don't stand on wheeled chairs. TwT_

_5.) Onewa's name is pronounced 'on-wah' by the kids._

_6.) Let the record show that Kongu is not afraid to take off his clothes and become a nudist. But he can at least get away with it as a toddler._

_7.) Well, I SUPPOSE he can if he's in a good mood. Who knows? *shrug*_

_8.) People, I give you the greatest math problem the world has ever known. 8D_

_9.) It really is ironic how some of the most energetic kids can whine and complain about being tired and achy during certain events not suited to their tastes._

_10.) Let the record show that the kids have not eaten since breakfast and snack time (Snack time usually being around 10 or so)_

_11.) Hahli, Matoro, and Nuparu are the three most mellow of the group._

_12.) It seems only a select few of the kids can pronounce poor Hahli's name right. TwT_

_13.) Often times when kids space out like this and go through random observations in their heads, it means they are in a kind of state of limbo in their own heads. Or in other words, they're in a kind of Cloud 9 due to either stress or as a means to escape outer happenings affecting them negatively. But in this case, it's all of that, and also a kind of side-effect of when Matoro is in his 'ghost sense' mode._

_14.) The name of Matoro's Penguin plushie is Puck!_

_15.) IT'S TRUE! Toys have feelings too damn it! DX_

_16.) Just so you know, he means Krekka. You all should know who this is if you have seen the second Bionicle movie._

_17.) I REALLY have no real explanation as to why Onewa seems to associate animals with kids. This kind of sh** just comes to me for some reason. And you guys just seem to love it, so...yeah, there you go. 83_

_18.) A parody of Meow Mix cat treats. I DO NOT own Meow Mix brand or their products! But I do own Crab Mix treats! 83_

_19.) I have no idea of Dume's heritage in the canon series, BUT! I really do find it fitting that he would come from a line of maybe soldiers, cops, and detectives. He just has that kind of rough family tree feel. _

_20.) Let the record show that Dume's Death Stare can command even the strongest of wills and shut you up._

_21.) Hahahahaha, you all know those things had to show up eventually in this! XD_

_22.) If you have seen A Goofy Movie, this should seem familiar to you._

_23.) A very true fact. Large buildings with little furniture and such are perfect conductors for sound and vibrations, especially if the building is made up of some parts metal and hollow._

_24.) Here is their age in order from eldest to youngest in my verse: Jaller, Hewkii, Nuparu, Matoro, Hahli, Kongu._

_25.) The Vahki Transporter is what was used to transport the Matoran spheres in the second movie._

_26.) Fact: when trapped in their pods by Teridax, the Matoran had 'shrank' in both size and power. It's safe to say that it would be very dangerous if the same thing were to happen twice, especially to toddlers._

_27.) Some of the kids can't count that high lol_

_28.) I have NO IDEA if mummies are a thing in their canon verse, but hey, who knows? It's a plausible concept._

_29.) Let the record show that mummies do not eat brains. That's zombie etiquette._

_30.) Matoro takes a lot of naps in this fic. So cute~_

_31.) I looked up SO many images for references on the Vahki Transporter, and a good 90% of them sucked!_

_32.) His 'pinchy thing' refers to a claw wrench._

_33.) He's hotwiring the transport. NUPARU IS F***ING HOTWIRING THE TRANSPORTER EVERYONE RUN ASDFGHJHGFDSASDFGH_

_34.) It was busted during the pods ricocheting adventure in the room._


	15. Great, now what?

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 15._

_Great, Now what?_

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ UPDATE! HOMG! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MADNESS? 8D lol anyways! I sincerely apologize for the long wait. I've been mostly trying to focus on mata-chat at the time (as you can tell from my triple-update) as well as a few personal projects of mine. _

_Also, cause I love you all, check out the __**BONUS CHAPTER **__installed just after this update! Enjoy!_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Mess. It was a _mess._

Or at least that would be a lighter term for the situation. Quite frankly it should have been described with a few other, more fitting words.

Among these words were chaotic, panic, crazy, terrible, awful, stupid, panic, mayhem, hysterics, panic, frenzy, worry, panic, more panic, panic, panic, panic, _PANIC_…

Did we also mention panic?

Well anyways, back to the situation at hand. Which had started out relatively…well, that is to say…

…

…it was screwed up.

Go back in time about ten minutes and the reason will become obvious…

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I am SO dead!"

"Can't argue with you there…"

Onewa shot a nasty look at Dume, but didn't comment. He was far too busy worrying about his own life, which was possibly going to end in a few minutes when the others came by. In fact, 'possibly' nothing. He was going to die today!

'_That's it, I'm done for!' _he thought. His nads were as good as gone now…

"Dume…what do we do?" He asked pleadingly, still staring at the screen in the control room that showed the giant hole in the wall where the transporter had broken through.

"We? What's this 'we' stuff? I'm not the one who lost the kids." Dume scoffed.

He no sooner found himself pinned to the chair he was sitting in with a very, very angry Onewa in his face.

"That may be so, but you're practically an accomplice in this!" Onewa snapped, "When they get here, they're going to ask questions. And when they do, I'm going to be the one to tell them that you sat by and _let_ this happen, and then we'll see who _really _gets the beating."

Dume stared at Onewa with a steady gaze. But he could not deny that Onewa had a point, not to mention had a very valid leash around his neck. He was a bit right, and there was no way the others were going to dismiss him if Onewa played the accomplice card on him. He was just as stuck as Onewa. (1)

"Point…taken…" he growled.

Onewa smirked and let Dume go, "That's what I thought."

"Onewa?"

Dume and Onewa jumped at the sound of the husky, low voice. They swiftly turned their heads back to the now open door, and instantly came face to face with five uncertain looking Turaga.

Nuju, the one who had addressed Onewa, crossed his arms and fixed the two with a hard gaze.

"Thought I heard someone up here. What the hell happened?" He asked, "And where are the kids?"

"They didn't cause that hole we saw in the garage, did they?" Nokama asked, both a bit uncertain yet thoughtful. (2)

"Um…" Onewa said rather lamely.

Wow, how to fix this one, he thought. He fiddled with his fingers as he tried to come up with a good way to break it to the others that the kids were currently being taken to who knows where on a hijacked Vahki Transporter. It wasn't like he could outright come out and say 'yes one of the little hellions _hotwired_ a Vahki Transporter and rode off into the sunset like in a bad movie, is that okay?'

…why couldn't it be that easy? His life would be SO much better if it was!

"Onewa…" Nuju growled in warning, his glare impatient.

Dume finally sighed and rubbed his temples. There was no use stalling or hiding it, they might as well just come out and say it. Or rather show it.

"Perhaps it would be best if you saw what happened." He said, gesturing to the larger monitor to his right.

Confused, the others watched as Dume typed away at a few keys until a video feed started playing on the once blank screen. Onewa suddenly turned his back to them and was banging his forehead against the wall, much to their surprise. Maybe if he hit it hard enough, he could be rendered unconscious and/or suffer a concussion…

The others watched the video as it played, showing a feed from the garage unit they had passed by. They watched in utter astonishment as the kids all crawled out of a pod in the center of the Vahki Transporter's deck. They scattered around it in obvious awe and curiosity. But what caught their attention was Nuparu, who had crawled under the dashboard of the Transporter's control panel. And not a moment too late, a flash of electrical light shot out from under the dash, along with a smoking and giggling Nuparu, before the Transporter started up and started on a head-on collision for the garage door. Onewa himself appeared on the bottom right of the screen, looking on in a stunned stupor as the Transporter finally broke the door down and sped off.

A few more seconds of video passed before the screen went blank, signaling the end of the feed.

Complete and utter silence descended upon the room. The five Turaga couldn't help but just _gape _at the screen, as if hoping it would suddenly turn back on and have some kind of 'this was a prank' window pop up. But no, it obviously wasn't some kind of sick prank.

Seeing how quiet everyone was, Onewa twiddled his fingers with a nervous smile.

"So, uh, yeah, that's what happened. So if you, like, don't mind, I'm gonna go and-"

He never stood a chance…

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

And so that's how they found themselves where they were now. Onewa was currently still unconscious on the floor and sporting numerous bruises, cuts, a black eye, and his clothing torn in various places. And if one looked closely enough, they could see a set of teeth marks on his right calf. Nuju was also KO on the floor, but more so because he had to be knocked out for going _bat-shit crazy_ on them all due to panic.

After the icy Turaga had seen the video and put the pieces together, all hell literally broke loose.

They knew he was very literate and could use words that even left them scratching their heads but…they had NO idea Nuju knew so many creative ways to use curse words and death threats. If it were under any other circumstance, they honestly would have all been impressed. Dume himself was quite intimidated by the overbearing 'parent'. He literally had to be rendered unconscious via hit to the back of the head before he had actually killed Onewa. (3) He was a hairs breadth away from nearly biting Vakama's arm off after the fire Turaga tried to intervene, but luckily(?) he only got away with a fist shaped bruise on his abdomen.

Nokama was…for lack of better term, sadistically yet spitefully enjoying Onewa's pain and giving Dume her utmost heated glare. It was making him quite uncomfortable honestly, but he wasn't about to voice this to her. (4)

And now they (they being Vakama, Dume, Whenua, Nokama, and Matau) were on the subject of how they were going to find the kids…

"Why can't we just chase-go after them?" Matau asked.

"Because it's been too long, and by now they're at least a few miles away from us, we need to set up a plan." Dume said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Do you know if it was pre-set for a designated place?" Vakama asked, "Those things have autopilot if I remember right." (5)

"They do, but since I disabled them, any and all pre-designated locations have been erased from their terminals," Dume sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I sent out a few Vahki to hopefully track it down for us, but we won't hear anything anytime soon…" (6)

"We can't just sit here though Dume," Nokama said heatedly, "The land is covered in crags and fissures, they could drive straight into one!"

"And if not those, they have a chance of driving off a cliff or into the ocean, not to mention the Rahi…"

"You're not HELPING Whenua…"

"What about trackers? Don't they have those too?" Vakama suggested.

"They did, but the terminal we would track them from is fried. The tracking devises are useless now without a working reader." Dume sighed, now regretting never having said terminal fixed.

Everyone simply sat in front of the meeting table in the security room (sans Onewa and Nuju), wracking their brains to try and think of something they could do. But all they could really seem to think of was how utterly terrible this had become. This whole situation had been bad from the beginning, but now it's just gone completely south, and then some.

It seemed to truly dawn on them just how bad this was. The kids were missing, they were driving a very questionable vehicle into even more questionable territory, alone, and it was getting dark. They were more or less trying to block out their logical side's insistence that they were already…'not around', so to speak.

Another problem was Nuju, or more precisely, when he will wake up.

They seemed to underestimate just how protective he was of Matoro, but got to witness firsthand just how 'maternal' he was; at the expense of Onewa's face, but still. The icy Turaga was practically having a panic attack and hyperventilating when he was done ripping Onewa a new ass, he was inconsolable. They had honestly _never _seen Nuju so flustered in all their lives. They all thought for a few minutes that they had maybe dropped into some dimensional hole or were having a screwed up dream at the time.

It wasn't until Nuju's mask started going just as haywire as his emotions that Dume lost all patience and delivered a nasty hit to the back of Nuju's neck, hitting a pressure point and knocking him out.

But Nuju would only stay unconscious for so long, and when he woke up…

"We could just tie him up or lock him in a room." Whenua suggested.

Vakama fixed him with an unimpressed gaze, "As much as we would _love_ to, we're not a bunch of barbarians. I'm sure he will listen to reason."

"Reason? That doesn't live-exist with Nuju when it comes to his snow-bunny! He'll shred-tear us apart if we try to restrain-stop him!" Matau exclaimed.

"That's not the point!" Dume snapped, standing and starting to pace, "The point is that the kids are missing and in serious danger if we don't find them. We can't waste time worrying about an overly paternal Turaga, we need to stop and think about where they might be!"

Though harsh, he did have a point. They could worry about Nuju's possible rampage later, right now they needed to find out where the kids were.

Yet so far, no such luck. They had no technology or power to know where they may have ended up. Right about now they wished Onewa had followed the transporter; at least then they would know a (somewhat) responsible adult was with them and contact them…

Vakama suddenly frowned at a thought, "Dume…"

"Hm?"

"Aren't the Rahaga supposed to be getting back from a trip tonight?" (7)

"Yes, why do you-" Dume paused as realization dawned on him.

Perhaps they weren't as screwed as they thought…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Meanwhile, just a few miles off from their dear playroom, the toddlers could be found cruising along through the foliage on the still running Vahki Transporter.

Jaller stood at the head on the driver's seat, and rather successfully, was driving along the trail they were on. Though barely. The dashboard was rather high, and he had to stand on the tips of his toes to just peek over it and see where the road was. But he had it all under control. He was the captain after all!

"Ja?" he heard Hewkii, his first mate, call, "Where we goin'?"

"Yeah, where we goin'?" Kongu asked.

Jaller blinked at the two toddlers standing on either side of his seat. Good question, he thought. Where _were _they going? Maybe to some great big city? A temple full of treasure? To outer space? Maybe to find someone…?

"We're goin' to find Toa Petepan!" Jaller exclaimed.

The other two suddenly perked up and shouted in excitement. They were going to meet Toa Petepan! And he was gonna make them Friendship Seekers like those kids on the TV, and they were gonna learn to fly and defeat the evil Makuta of Meanness! (8)

"Yay! Yay!" Both cheered, running around on the deck.

But Hewkii suddenly stopped, causing Kongu to run into his back and tumble onto his rump.

"Where is Toa Petepan's hideout?" he asked.

"Uumm…" Jaller thought, suddenly stumped. That's right, where was his hideout…

"In the trees!" Nuparu suddenly exclaimed.

"Wha? Nu-uh!" Kongu argued.

"Ye-huh, 'member? Toa Petepan has a treehouse!" Nuparu said.

"Oooh…" The others sighed. That's right; the Toa had a super-secret club house in a magic forest!

And only kids could find it! And they were kids! They could find him no problem!

"What about papa…?" Matoro asked shyly.

"We dun need grown-ups! Grown-ups are mean!" Jaller said with puffed cheeks.

"Mama-kama wasn't mean…" (9) Hahli inquired, hiding slightly behind Matoro and clutching his arm.

Jaller merely huffed and turned back to his driving, trying to ignore his ire at Hahli for being so close to Matoro. They didn't know where they were or where they were going, but what they did know was that they had to find Toa Petepan! He'll know what to do! And he can teach them to fly! What's better than that?

"Ja?" he felt a tug at his shirt, and looked down at Nuparu.

"What?"

"I'm hungwy." (10)

Oh…okay, so maybe food would be better than flight right now…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

_A/N~ Aaahh…not too happy with this one. But then again, when am I ever happy with a chapter? XD anyways, this one seemed so…monologue-y. I guess, that and I'm not sure if I really conveyed anything properly. This is more or less a filler, and we'll be moving onto more meaningful chapters after this. I promise!_

_Also, I would have put Nuju's beating up Onewa in this, but…I'm really not that good with fighting sequences with more than three people in it. And with a room full of seven people, it's kind of hard to convey the situation with so many needs and such. I'd need to use a few to restrain the fighters, I'd need one or two being beaten up, I'd need at least two doing the beating, and so forth. Plus I felt I wouldn't be able to properly express Nuju's ire. So use your imagination please! XD_

_Well! Next chapter will be coming soon!_

_1-) Blackmail. It's one of life's greatest wonders. XD_

_2-) I did a bit of research, and it turns out the Coliseum does in fact have a basement/garage._

_3-) Pressure points. You can knock somebody out by hitting a certain pressure point in the back of the neck or head. I'm no expert on the technique, but I do know it's possible and have done some research._

_4-) Hell hath no fury like that of a woman's scorn. Hell also hath no fury like that of a mama-kama's death-stare. XDD_

_5-) I imagine the Transporters, as advanced as they are, would have some kind of homing, tracking, and autopilot installed in them. It would make sense in all honesty._

_6-) In this, Dume manages to salvage a few Vahki for himself. However it is stated in the wikis that all Vahki are destroyed in canon, but this is an AU, so screw it. Dume is alone in a huge building for days on end, he needs SOMEONE to play poker with._

_7-) Yes! The Rahaga will be making an appearance soon!_

_8-) Are you smiling like an idiot yet? No? Then something is clearly wrong with you._

_9-) Mama-kama. Yes, I gave Nokama her own nickname from Hahli. Nuju is Papa, Nokama is Mama-kama. You dying of cuteness yet? XD_

_10-) Let the record show that the kids have no eaten since breakfast. So they missed snacktime, lunch, and dinner. Poor things. )8_


	16. BONUS Nursemaid Dume

**Pacifier.**

_Ch. 16_

_BONUS! Nursemaid Dume._

Summary: _Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?_

Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.

HUMANIZED!Bionicle.

_A/N~ BONUS CHAPTER TIME! SQUEE~! This bonus chapter contains all the hilarity you could expect from, wait for it, Nursemaid Dume. Yep. I'm putting the bonnet on Dume. He knocking at my door with a crowbar yet? XD please enjoy folks!_

_**A/N 2~ **__Now edited!_

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

How in the _hell _did he get roped into this?

No really, he would _love _to know. Because quite frankly, the last two hours have been nothing but a big, jumbled blur to him!

But he digressed, as there was no point in crying over something that couldn't be fixed now. And even less so something he couldn't even fully remember. God, he must have been sloshed or something, because _like_ _hell _he would have agreed to something like this while sober!

"Murder," He grit out, "I'm going to murder your Turaga."

The kids paid him no mind, instead continuing in their playing, napping, or TV watching. Dume himself was off sulking in an armchair and glaring hatefully at the back wall.

Yes, Turaga Dume had somehow, Mata-nui above only knows how, gotten roped into babysitting the kids for the day. How did this happen? _Why _did this happen!?

'_I swear on Mata-nui's name, I am going to murder you all!' _Dume thought, imagining his colleagues all going up in flames. And drowning. And being strangled. And eaten by Muaka…

'_Maybe I can convince them to swallow some thumb-tacks…' _Dume thought. The idea was disturbingly relaxing…

"Dumba!"

Oh yes, _that _was another reason he was in a sour mood. Yes, he could understand kids not being able to pronounce certain words and crap, he himself had trouble pronouncing words as a kid, but _seriously?_ Oh if he wasn't sure Nuju was secretly watching him through some kind of spy camera, or coercing (threating) Vakama to use his mask to hide them, he would have…oh forget it. Even he couldn't hit kids.

But like hell he couldn't spank them…

"What…" He growled lowly.

He seemed to suddenly realize that all of the kids were standing around his legs in a half circle. All six were looking up at him with something akin to…admiration? Expectance? It was hard to tell, but either way, it made his ego happy.

"Well?" He sighed, "Spit it out. What did you want to ask me?"

The kids looked at each other briefly, as if mentally conversing. The other Turaga had once told him about this, and he suddenly found himself agreeing that it was quite a bit creepy…

He really needed to stop watching horror movies about evil children when he's bored. This was just ridiculous…

After a moment passed, the kids' ambassador, better known as Jaller, stepped forward and looked up at Dume. 

"Dumba-"

"Dume." He corrected.

"Doom-buh?"

"No, Doo-muh."

"Boo-muh?"

"DUME…"

"Puma?"

See, this is a good example of why Dume never married and had kids. Not only were they a hassle and got on his nerves, but they were annoying. And they couldn't pronounce his damn name! It was two syllables for crying out loud!

"Forget it, now just tell me what you want so I can go back to sulking." Brutally honest, even with himself. It was an admirable trait he supposed.

"Okie…" Jaller said.

And all at once, the kids plopped down onto their rumps in front of Dume and stared up at him, as if expecting him to go into one of his political speeches. He was certainly reminded of it actually.

"Where do babies come fwum?"

Complete. And utter. _Horror._

Where do babies come from, he said. They _all _wanted to know where babies came from. They all _expected _an answer from _Dume_ about the birds and the bees…

Mata-tap-dancing-nui on stilts, this would be _such _a good time for Dume's age to be made apparent so he could lapse into a stroke and avoid the whole thing. Because a stroke would be very welcome right now! He kind of wished he ate that last piece of cake so he could increase his chances of a heart attack! It would be _very _appreciated right now!

"Wha…?"oh sure, forget the stroke or heart attack, lets instead say something unintelligent. Totally acceptable.

Hewkii turned to Jaller, "Dumba maybe not know?"

"Nuh-uh, Dumba's a grown-up, he's gotta know." Jaller argued.

"Maybe Dumba is dumb?" Kongu suggested, all the while picking his nose.

"What-!? I am not-! I do _so _know where babies come from!"

The others looked up at his eagerly at this. Curse his damned pride! He should have just played dumb and left it at that! It would be _so _much less awkward!

"Tell us!" Jaller demanded. Dume frowned.

"Yeah, I don't think so. You're not old enough to hear about these things." He said, rubbing his forehead. A headache was coming in…

Hewkii whined, "See!? Dumba don't know where babies come fwum!"

"Dummy-head!" Kongu laughed, pointing at Dume.

'_You little…' _Dume grit his teeth, his headache turning into a migraine.

But there was no chance in hell he was going to start getting into an argument about his intelligence with _toddlers_. That's just beyond stupid; it's something Matau would do! In fact, arguing with Matau was like arguing with a toddler in and of itself. And besides, he didn't need to prove anything to them, they were _kids! _What did they know?

"Dummy-head Dumba~! Dummy-head Dumba!" Jaller sang.

"Will you be quiet?" Dume growled.

"Dummy-head Dumba! Dummy-head Dumba! Dummy-head Dumba!"

No, he was not going to fall into temptation and yell at them…

"Hehehe! Big dummy-head is a dummy-head! Hahahah!"

Don't give in…they are children, they are idiots, and don't know any better…

"DUMMY-BUTT-HEAD!"

Screw morals sideways to high hell and back…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Finally, Nuju thought. Honestly, it was like the universe hated him or something. Somehow, Mata-nui only knew how, he and his fellow Turaga had all gotten caught up in incidents in their own koros _at the same time_, and therefore had to leave the kids to Dume. _Dume! _

First it was him having to deal with a sudden avalanche that had blocked off a trading route. Then Vakama and Whenua, the first of which was dealing with a lava leak in Onu-koro, which Whenua was also caught in. Then Nokama had to handle some aqua-ducts being backed up, and Onewa's village got caught in a dust storm! And Matau…oh Matau…

'_Who the hell gets their foot stuck in a toilet!?' _Nuju thought with a sigh. Last he heard, he was still trying to get out of said toilet…

"Oh relax Nuju, I doubt anything bad has happened. He's only been watching them for a few hours." Vakama said.

He, Whenua, Nuju, and Nokama were the only ones who managed to get out of their situations the quickest. And they all swore to Dume that they would take his shift the moment one of them was available. They all decided to meet up and spare Dume any more time with the little hellions. They were sure he was about to flip his lid about now, despite only having been with the kids for maybe five or six hours…

"You think he ate them?" Whenua joked.

Nuju fixed him with a sharp glare, "Shut your mouth you ape, I don't want to think about stuff like that. For all we know, he _did_ eat them!"

Vakama sighed as the two started arguing. Really, the two of them could act like they hated each other's guts or seem like an old married couple. It was baffling sometimes. Although Vakama couldn't honestly help but be a bit concerned for the kids in Dume's hands.

"I'm sure they're fine Vakama." Nokama said, noticing Vakama's worried expression.

"Still, this is _Dume _we're talking about," Vakama said, "And we all know he isn't exactly best with little kids. He doesn't even like dealing with new Toa."

"Well still, I doubt he'd resort to physically harming them, he has _some _morals." Nokama reasoned. Although he could tell she was just as nervous. He seemed to notice that all of them were doing a kind of speed-walk as well…

He was actually surprised Nuju hadn't stolen a riding Husi and rode to Metru-nui like a hero in a bad movie.

They reached the Coliseum in what felt like no time. And once there, they went in and took their usual route to the kid's room, where they also hoped Dume was as well. Chaos happens when an adult wasn't with the kids. But then again, chaos also happened when Dume got pissed off. They were half expecting to be hearing children screaming and Dume cursing…

But it was silent when they arrived on their selected floor. No yelling, no screaming, no cursing, and nothing was broken. Which was odd, if not a bit foreboding.

Instantly they thought that they may have killed each other…

Okay, not really, but this was honestly scary to them.

"Shouldn't we be, you know…" Whenua started, "Hearing from them about now?"

"I…don't know…?" Vakama said rather lamely. Nuju scoffed beside them and pushed past them.

"Well I'm not going to stand here and wait to find out." He proclaimed, marching over to the door.

But just as he was about to knock, the door flew open, startling Nuju. And there in the doorway was Dume, simply standing there casually…with a smirk on his face.

"That was quick, I honestly thought you all would be gone all day." He said rather jovially. The Turaga were instantly disturbed.

"Uh…we uh…we managed to solve things quickly, so…" Vakama said uncertainly.

"Splendid!" a collective shudder, "The kids are inside if you want to see them."

"Did they uh…behave?" Nokama asked.

"Absolute angels they were," Wow this was not at all creepy, "Learned a lot from them actually."

"Um, good for you…? A-anyways, can we please just see them?" Nuju broke in, now quiet eager to check on Matoro.

"Sure, sure, go ahead. I'll be in my office," Dume said, slipping past the others and down the hall, but he paused, "They asked quite a few interesting questions today. Maybe they can show you what they learned."

And he promptly vanished down the hall. Alright, now the Turaga were thoroughly concerned. All four rushed into the room, expecting to find some kind of macabre scene out of a movie, or maybe the kids rocking in a corner.

But none of that was present, shockingly. All the kids were doing was…well, their everyday thing. Playing with toys, watching TV, coloring and drawing, just their usual routine.

It was so mundane and normal, it fair made the Turaga want to turn tail and flee the building…

"Um, kids?" Vakama started.

_That_ caught their attention. The kids all looked up and turned their heads to the recently arrived Turaga, and once they seemed to catch onto who they were, they all ran up to them and just stared at them. A bit uncomfortable, if not a bit uncertain, Nuju cleared his throat and kneeled down to Matoro.

"So how was being with Dume? Not too traumatizing I hope." He tried lightly.

Matoro blinked at him before beaming at Nuju.

"Fuck!" he chirped.

It was so bizarre, the others could have _sworn_ they heard what sounded like glass breaking in Nuju's head. Quite frankly, they all swore they felt something shattering in their heads.

"Fuck!" The other kids chirped at once. Yep, something broke. No doubt.

"Wha-…WHAT!?" They all yelled in shock. The kids only smiled.

"Dumba said when two people like each other, they 'fuck' and that's what makes babies!" Jaller explained.

"Yeah! We like you! Fuck!" Hewkii followed.

"Mama-kama, can I have a sister if we fuck?"

"I love papa! Fuck?"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"I like Matty! We fuck now?"

"How do you fuck?"

"Dumba said it was like a 'super-mega-special' hug…"

"Fucking is hugging?"

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Meanwhile hidden away in a different room, Dume was enjoying a nice aged bottle of scotch and some quiet time all to himself.

"Karma, thou art a heartless bitch…" he chuckled, "And I love you."

Yeah, he was probably going to be killed later, most likely by Nuju for 'tainting his little angel's mind'. But like hell it wasn't worth it! They're never going to ask him to babysit again!

And that's the way he liked it. He was a bachelor after all.

He only wished Matau and Onewa were there to see it. They would have been so proud of him…

To be continued…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

_A/N~ Hehehehe, oh wow, this is so inappropriate~ 8D please enjoy this hilarious(?) bonus chapter and tell me what you think!_


End file.
